By CHRIS FORTIER
Staff Writer

$50 million. With that kind of money, you certainly could live life to the max.

With the large jackpots that Lotto Max has had these past several weeks, it's interesting to see that some are not aware of the vast fortune that could be won.

"Players want chances at bigger prizes, and that is what Lotto Max involves," says Tony Bitonti, senior manager of media relations for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

Lotto Max, Canada's newest national lottery was established in September 2009. It replaced the former Lotto Super 7.

For a $5 wager, a player gets to choose a series of seven numbers from one to 49, in addition to two randomly selected sets of seven numbers.

The jackpots start at $10 million, and if there is no winner, the jackpot increases, until its cap at $50 million.

Once the jackpot reaches $50 million, there are additional Maxmillions bonus draws of $1 million dollars each.

"Lotto Max has been very popular, especially because of the bigger jackpots," says Bitonti "Initially, we expected a slow start for the game, but when we started to build these big jackpots, the game has caught on a lot quicker than expected."

So what does this mean for us Niagara College students? Bitonti says that the demographic is changing with today's lottery players.

"We're finding that we are having a lot of younger players win. Recently a 24 year old won the Lotto 6/49. Some of our Maxmillions winners were 30 or younger."

Bitonti also says even though Lotto Max is a national lottery, there are people in Ontario that do win, noting that there was a $10 million winner from Ontario.

The current jackpot (as of July 15) stands at an estimated $50 million. This is the third time in five weeks that the jackpot has stood at maximum. In addition, the jackpot has an estimated 10 Maxmillions draws.

So what do most of the winners do with their winnings?

Bitonti says they do gather information from the winners for press releases, but he enjoys finding out what they plan to do with their money.

"I am nosy, and besides, it would make a better press release."