Lottery Corp. brings back Wintario

Seven years after retiring Ontario's first-ever province-wide lottery game, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. has this morning announced plans to bring back Wintario for a limited time.

The original Wintario was launched in May 1975 with a top prize of $200,000.

Draws were held every other Thursday on a live television program that travelled across the province.

Wintario retired in the fall of 1996, after selling more than $2.4 billion in tickets and generating more than $1.1 billion in prizes.

"People today still fondly remember Wintario as the first game they played, or as the game their parents played," says Alan Berdowski, OLGC's senior vice president, lottery.

"We're bringing the Wintario name back as a special, limited time game with bigger prizes than ever."

OLGC announced this morning that the new Wintario Millions promotion will be an updated version of the nostalgic classic, going on sale on Labour Day across the province.

Each $10 Wintario Millions pouch will contain five tickets for five draws to be held on consecutive Thursday nights running from October 30 to November 27.

"Each individual ticket contains two seven-digit numbers to match against one seven-digit number to be drawn each week," OLGC says in a news release.

"Prizes range from $1 million for matching all seven digits down to $10 for matching the last two digits. Each ticket also includes two instant portions that can be played anytime with prizes ranging from $100,000 down to $10."