Jackpot Alert: Lotto Line-Ups Expected as Jackpots Grow; Today's Lotto 6/49 Jackpot an Estimated $26 Million; Friday's LOTTO MAX Jackpot Is $50 Million + an Estimated 28 X MAXMILLIONS

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 27, 2012) - Jackpots for Canada's two national lottery games reach prize amounts rarely seen.

Today's Lotto 6/49 draw is an estimated $26 million and Friday's LOTTO MAX draw will be $50 million plus an estimated 28 MAXMILLION prizes of $1 million each.

"With both jackpots estimated at such high amounts, we anticipate increased excitement among lottery players," explained Kevin Gass, VP of Lottery Gaming at BCLC. "This is only the third time in the past year we have seen both lotto jackpots grow to this value."

LOTTO MAX:

• Draws held every Friday night.
• A $5 ticket features three chances to win.
• To win the jackpot players must match 7/7 numbers.
• Odds of winning a LOTTO MAX jackpot or MAXMILLION prize are one in 28.6 million per play.
• Odds of winning any prize are one in 6.6 per play.
• The largest LOTTO MAX prize claimed in B.C. was $50 million, October 29, 2010.

MAXILLIONS:

• When a LOTTO MAX jackpot reaches $50 million, prizes of $1 million MAXMILLIONS are added.
• Players must match 7/7 numbers to win the corresponding MAXMILLION prize.

LOTTO 6/49:

• Lotto 6/49 tickets can be purchased until 6 p.m. on the day of the draw.
• Draws on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• The largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot ever won in B.C. was $22 million.
• The largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot ever awarded was to a group of seventeen Alberta oil and gas workers who shared $54.3 million in October 2005.
• Odds of matching 6/6 numbers are one in 13,983,816 per play.

Group release forms for office pools or groups can be obtained at lottery retailers or bclc.com.

LOTTO MAX can be played at your favourite lottery retailer or at PlayNow.com. Winning numbers can be found at bclc.com following each draw.