Checking your Lotto Tickets
See all the ways you can find out if you're a winner.
CHECKING AT A RETAIL LOCATION
There are two ways to check your ticket at an authorized OLG retailer location.
Ticket Checker
A Ticket Checker is a device you can use to check your lottery tickets on your own to see if you have won. All LOTTO tickets and INSTANT tickets with a Scratch & Scan symbol can be checked through the Ticket Checker. Ticket Checkers are now installed at all lottery terminal retail outlets in Ontario and can usually be found on the in-store lottery display or on the retail counter.
Lottery Terminal
Ask your retailer to check your ticket through the lottery terminal.
The retailer will put your LOTTO ticket through the machine.
Check the Customer Display Screen. This screen should be facing you and will show you in large characters the amount of your prize, or if you have not won a prize.
Whenever a ticket is checked by a retailer at a lottery terminal, you will see a video message on the Customer Display Screen and hear a winning or non-winning jingle with a voice-over message. These alerts will tell you whether you have a winning ticket or not.
Display screen messages
CUSTOMER DISPLAY SCREENS ARE LOCATED AT YOUR OLG RETAILER
Winning Message $1,000 to $4,999.99:
If the ticket cannot be processed:
Other ways to check your ticket now
Compare your numbers to the winning numbers on olg.ca.
Call our WIN! line at 416-870-8946 (Toronto area) or toll free at 1-866-891-8946.
Some newspapers or media outlets will report unofficial OLG lottery numbers.
Before you check your ticket
Sign your ticket. Retailers can’t check tickets that aren’t signed.
Take back your tickets and receipts. Retailers must return all LOTTO and INSTANT tickets and customer receipts to you before you leave the retail location – whether or not you’ve won.
WINNING TICKETS AND NON-WINNING TICKETS
How to tell whether you’ve got a winning ticket or a non-winning ticket at a retail location.
Winning Ticket
- You’ll see a winning message on the customer display screen and hear a winning message play from the lottery terminal.
- Your winning prize amount will be printed (or ‘branded’ on the front left-hand side of your original ticket.
- Your retailer will give you a customer receipt showing the winning prize amount.
- Check that the boxed ticket number on the receipt matches the ticket number on your ticket.
- If you win $5,000 or more, OLG’s Support Centre will call you while you’re at the retail location.
The customer display screen will only display the winning prize amount (in dollars) for prizes up to $999.99.
Non-Winning Ticket
- You’ll see a non-winning message on the Customer Display Screen and hear a non-winning message play from the lottery terminal.
- A non-winning message will be printed (or ‘branded’) on the front, left-hand side of your original ticket.
- Your retailer will give you a customer receipt showing that your ticket is not a winner.
- Check that the boxed ticket number on the receipt matches the ticket number on your ticket.
GETTING A CUSTOMER RECEIPT
Every time a retailer checks a LOTTO ticket on a lottery terminal, a customer receipt is printed.
- The boxed ticket number on the customer receipt will match the ticket number on your LOTTO ticket.
- A winning ticket will show the prize amount.
- A winning ticket will show that the ticket is in the winner file.
HOW A RETAILER CHECKS YOUR TICKET
Your retailer will check whether tickets are signed before validating. If tickets are not signed, they’ll ask you to sign them. Retailers cannot validate tickets that are not signed.
Your retailer will tear through the bar code of all paid-out tickets, and return all validated tickets, winners and non-winners, to you along with the corresponding customer receipt.
Your retailer will keep clutter away from the lottery terminal and the printer and ensure the lottery customer display screen is visible to the customer at all times.
ATTENTION groups with retailers: Group lottery tickets are void if an OLG retailer or a person involved in the handling of lottery tickets at the retailer's store is a member of the group and the group's tickets are purchased, electronically checked or electronically validated in the retailer's store. For more information about group play, phone the OLG Support Centre at 1-800-387-0098.