Saturday Lotto: WA’s heritage game receiving $1 million prize pool boost in 45-year celebration

To celebrate the 45-year run of Saturday Lotto, players have the chance to strike gold with an extra $1 million in prize money for the weekend draw.

The division one prize pool will increase from an estimated $5 million to an estimated $6 million, beginning with the first draw this Saturday, May 24.

Lotterywest spokesperson James Mooney said the introduction of Saturday Lotto was an exciting time for the State back in 1979.

“Prior to 1979, Lotto games ran like raffles, so when Saturday Lotto came along, it was incredibly exciting for WA players,” he said.

“The first Saturday Lotto draw offered West Aussie’s the chance to win a $35,000 division one prize.

“At this time Perth’s median house price was around $25,000, so $35,000 was a life-changing offering for WA players.”

What they didn’t anticipate at the time was just how popular Saturday Lotto would become in Western Australia, with three times the predicted 45,000 tickets sold for the first draw and retailers were selling out of tickets just hours after opening their doors.

The big initial draw for Saturdays, which was State-based at the time, saw two tickets from WA match the winning six numbers, splitting the division one $35,000 prize between a pair of lucky punters.

Margaret Hambley, owner of EE Hambley in Queens Park, said the store that’s been in her family for 78 years has sold Lotto tickets longer then she has worked there.

“I’ll always remember (in 1979) spending Fridays filling the old Hugan terminals with tickets and delivering it to Lotterywest HQ each week,” she said.

“There were plenty of Saturday Lotto Tickets in there each time and it is still much loved among players today.

“Saturday Lotto is the go-to game for most of my regular players, they always favour it over other games.

“Saturday Lotto creates the most division one winners in WA each year and has been around so long that it has a special place in people’s heart.”

Since its inception, Saturday Lotto has delivered the most division one wins in WA every year, as well as helping raise nearly $1 billion over the past decade through its grants program for the WA community.