Current Jackpot AUS$ 1,000,000
Australian Lottery
The Australian Lottery – Wednesday Lotto - is one of various lottery games and related products available across Australia. Some of these are in-state lotteries and others such as the Wednesday Lotto, Monday Lotto, Oz Lotto and Powerball are country-wide games.
Australian lotto games can trace their history right back to 1895 when a company called Tatersalls began its first lottery operations in Hobart, Tasmania. These days, Oz lotteries are made up of both state government owned and privately owned lottery companies – all of whom are licensed either by the state or territory in which they are based.
The major Australian lotto companies are Tatts Group Ltd., Intralot Australia - who are privately owned – plus the state run New South Wales Lotteries, Lotterywest and South Australian Lotteries.
The national Australian lottery games are operated jointly by the state run companies along with the independent Tattersalls who work together in partnership, jointly conducting and syndicating these games across Australia.
We are very pleased to be recommending and taking a closer look at another of the Oz Lottery games here…the Australian Wednesday Lotto…
Australian Lottery - Wednesday Lotto – Overview
The highly popular Australian Lottery midweek lottery game – the Wednesday Lotto began back in 1979/80.
It was originally known as NSW Lotto and available only in New South Wales until it was eventually syndicated across other states in Australia.
Nowadays it is known simply as “Lotto” and is available in all Australian states and territories except Queensland which runs its own Wednesday game called Wednesday Gold Lotto.
The Wednesday Lotto midweek game is popular especially because of its low cost of entry.
The Australian Lottery – Wednesday Lotto – was introduced from New South Wales into Western Australia and South Australia from May 1st 2006 and from October 13th 2008 it was also syndicated across Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territories replacing the existing Wednesday Tattslotto.
The Australian Lottery – Wednesday Lotto – is a typical jackpot style draw game and has a top prize – division one prize - that starts off at AU$750,000 and rolls over each time it is not won.
How It Works…
The Australian Lottery - Wednesday Lotto - uses what’s known as a 6/45 matrix which means that when playing, you need to select 6 numbers from a pool of numbers from 1 to 45 – if you match all 6 numbers drawn then you will be an Wednesday Lotto jackpot winner.
After the 6 main numbers are drawn, 2 extra numbers – known as supplementary numbers – are then also drawn, increasing the number of ways in which you can win to 5 in total.
A “SlikPik” facility is available when playing the Oz Wednesday Lotto similar to the “Lucky Dip” or “Easy Pick” options that are used in the UK National Lottery, EuroMillions or most USA lotteries – which means that you can get the computer terminal to select all your Australian Lottery – Wednesday Lotto numbers for you if you wish.
So, playing the Australian Wednesday Lotto couldn’t be easier…just select your own 6 numbers or let the computer generate them automatically for you with a “SlikPik”.
The cost of playing the Australian Wednesday Lotto varies slightly from state to state from 35 to 40 cents per play plus agents commission and because of the low cost, you are generally required to play a minimum of 4 games, once again, depending upon the state.
Who Can Play?
Like the majority of lottery games around the world, you would normally have needed to live in the country concerned to actually take part in any of its games.
Now, however, with the welcome presence of authentic and authorized online lottery ticket agents such as OzLotteries and TheLotter, you are able to play most lotteries from the comfort of your own home no matter where in the world you live.
This applies to the Wednesday Lotto and any of the other Australian Lottery games available and you can pick your Oz Lottery numbers online and purchase your tickets whether you live in Australia or anywhere else around the world.
This is excellent news, of course, if you live outside of Australia and want to play the Australian Wednesday Lotto and guarantee your entry into the next draw or just simply wish to enjoy the convenience and simplicity of being able to quickly and easily buy lottery tickets online.
Once you have entered into the Wednesday Lotto, you are then easily able to check your Australian Lotto results online to see how you have done and to find out if you have become one of the lucky lottery winners.
The age limit at which you can purchase tickets for any of the Oz Lotteries varies from state to state but will either be 16 years or 18 years of age.
Click here to Play the Australian Lottery - Wednesday Lotto - Now
Information & Background
There have been a few changes to the Australian Wednesday Lotto game over the years with a second supplementary number being added on August 20th 1990.
Also, the main matrix itself changed in April 2004 from a 6/44 configuration to 6/45 – the 45th ball being added to keep the game in line with the Saturday Lotto.
For a period of time between April 2004 and May 2006, the Wednesday Lotto jackpot would not roll over if not won but would instead roll down increasing the lower tier prize divisions.
However, from May 1st 2006, the Wednesday Lotto jackpot has rolled over each time it is not won and is added onto the next week’s jackpot making for larger first division prizes and the starting jackpot figure was also increased to AU$¾ million.
What Are The Odds?
With the Australian Lottery – Wednesday Lotto - there are a total of five different ways in which you can win.
The chances of winning an Australian Wednesday Lotto jackpot are 1 in 8.14 million for matching the 6 main numbers correctly – for these odds you could be one of the Oz Wednesday Lotto jackpot winners.
For one of the prizes in the second division and correctly matching 5 of the main numbers plus 1 supplementary number, the odds come in at 1 in 678,755.
The likelihood of winning a third tier prize by matching 5 of the main numbers comes in at 1 in 36,690 and for a prize on the fourth tier matching 4 main numbers, the odds come right down to 1 in 733.
For a prize on the final level - the fifth division - by matching just 3 of the main numbers plus 1 supplementary number, you are looking at odds of 1 in 298.
Record Jackpots…
In the Australian “Lotto” group of games the biggest jackpot won in either the Saturday Lotto, Wednesday Lotto or Monday Lotto was in November 1996 when 3 entries shared a top prize of AUS$ 15 Million on the Monday Lotto.
The biggest win for a single ticket was on January 21st 2009 when a player from Nelson Bay, NSW, scooped AUS$ 6 Million on the Australian Lottery - Wednesday Lotto.
This was the biggest jackpot to be won so far on the Wednesday Lotto.
Of course, the biggest Lotto game in Australia – the Oz Lotto itself – produces even bigger jackpots and the overall record to date for this game was produced on November 6th 2012 when the top prize figure reached a massive AUS$ 111.97 million.
The record for the largest jackpot win for a single ticket holder out of any Australian Lottery game goes to the Powerball game which produced a win of AUS$ 58.7 million which was won by 4 work colleagues in Melbourne in June 2008.
How Are Jackpots Paid?
All Australian lottery prizes including the Oz Wednesday Lotto jackpot are paid as tax free cash lump sums.
You will need to make your claim within 12 months of the draw taking place before your ticket would become invalid.
If you have won an Oz Wednesday Lotto jackpot, you can collect your winnings after a 14 day validation period that ends following the draw. You will need to present your winning ticket at the Australian lotto HQ of the state where you purchased the ticket.
If you have won any other prize, you can normally claim this at the retailers the day after the draw has taken place. Retailers in different states have various cash payout limits but generally any win up to A$500 should be paid there and then with higher amounts depending upon cash availability.
Of course, if you have purchased your lottery tickets from an online lottery ticket sales agent like OzLotteries or TheLotter, you will not need to be concerned with the above, as your agent will take care of all these details for you when you play lottery online and ensure that you get your payment asap.
How Australia Benefits…
Proceeds and revenue from Australian lottery games, including the Australian Saturday Lotto benefits many good causes right across the country.
Each individual state will decide exactly where the money goes according to its own criteria with common organizations to benefit being community groups, charities, public hospitals, sporting organizations and arts groups.