Lotto Max changed on 14 April 2026
The biggest update since the game launched in 2009: a larger number pool, an extra selection per play, a higher ticket price and a bigger jackpot ceiling. Below is what changed, what it does to your odds, and — because we hold every draw — what the two new numbers have actually done since.
What changed
| Before | From 14 April 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number pool | 1–50 | 1–52 |
| Selections per play | 3 lines | 4 lines |
| Ticket price | $5 | $6 |
| Jackpot cap | $80 million | $90 million |
| Extra prizes | MaxMillions only | MAXPLUS added |
Draw days did not change — Lotto Max is still drawn Tuesday and Friday. This was the first ticket price increase since the game replaced Super 7 in September 2009.
The exact changeover
| Last draw under the old rules | Friday 10 April 2026 1 · 11 · 16 · 20 · 28 · 32 · 45 + 50 |
| First draw under the new rules | Tuesday 14 April 2026 4 · 13 · 20 · 31 · 37 · 43 · 51 + 9 |
What it does to the odds
Two effects pull in opposite directions, which is why the change is easy to misread.
- Adding two numbers makes each individual line harder to win with — there are more possible combinations.
- Giving every play a fourth line makes the ticket as a whole more likely to win something.
The operators put the overall odds of winning any prize at roughly 1 in 5.8 per play after the change, better than before. Better overall odds on a more expensive ticket is not the same as a better deal, and it does not make any individual number more likely to come up.
MAXPLUS
A separate draw added alongside the main one. For every $1 million in that draw's jackpot, one line of seven numbers is drawn from 1–52, each worth $100,000. A $47 million jackpot means 47 MAXPLUS lines. Your ticket's four selections are each checked against them, and all seven must match.
What the draws show since the change
30 draws have taken place under the new format, putting 240 balls into play. If they fell perfectly evenly, each of the 52 numbers would have appeared about 4.6 times.
| Draws under the new format | 30 |
| Times 51 has been drawn | 5 |
| Times 52 has been drawn | 6 |
| Draws containing 51 or 52 | 11 of 30 (37%) |
The two new numbers are behaving like any others — which is what should happen. Nothing here suggests they are due, hot, or worth favouring; a run of a few dozen draws is far too short to show anything but noise.
As a check on our own records: no Lotto Max draw before 14 April 2026 contains a number above 50 in our database, which is exactly what the rule change implies.