iN NUMBERS: You can’t win if you don’t play the lottery in B.C.

Some folks say the lottery is just a bit of fun, other folks say it’s a tax on those who aren’t good with statistics. No matter your view on the lottery, it’s fun to fantasize about a big pile of cash landing in your lap.

Here are the numbers:

• 3: Vernon residents have won big in the lottery so far in 2025.
• 1,630,000: Dollars was the total prize for the three big Vernon winners.
• 5,000,000: Dollars was how much a Kamloops man won from a scratch and win ticket, the biggest scratcher prize ever awarded in B.C.
• 1,452,000,000: Dollars worth of lottery tickets were sold in B.C. in 2024.
• 705,000: Dollars were paid out to B.C. lottery players in 2024.
• 1: Kelowna woman wanted to buy a Hummer after winning the lottery.
• 2,000,000: Dollars was how much a B.C. trucker won in the lottery, but his coworkers tried to sue claiming it was a lottery pool between colleagues.
• 150,000: Dollars is how much a West Kelowna grandmother won when she was paid for babysitting with a $20 scratcher.
• 3: Dollars gets you a 1 in 13,983,816 chance of winning Lotto 6/49.
• 52: Weeks is the deadline to redeem a winning lottery ticket after it’s printed.