Thousands of Western Australians have celebrated a life changing Division One win thanks to Saturday Lotto’s 45-year run, and a refresh of the game now offers players the chance to take home an extra $1 million in prize money.
Since its 1979 inception, Saturday Lotto has become WA’s most popular game, and it will soon offer players an increased Division One prize pool from an estimated $5 million to an estimated $6 million, with the first draw on 24 May.
Saturday Lotto delivers the most Division One winners in WA each year, while the past decade has seen the game raise almost $1 billion in grants for the WA community.
The world has certainly changed since the 1970’s, but Saturday Lotto continues to be a consistent and much-loved fixture among WA Lotto players.
Saturday night in 1979 – Australian TV was finally in colour, years after the rest of the world, and Aussies could appreciate flares in every colour on screen. Record players were humming Kiss, Rod Stewart or Blondie.
Saturdays were slower, often spent at the beach, having BBQs with friends and spending time with loved ones.
Newspapers advertised ‘household specials’ for pineapple and cherries to use in popular 70s bakes like upside down cakes – now considered ‘retro’.
Lotterywest spokesperson James Mooney said the announcement of Saturday Lotto in 1979 caused great excitement across the State.
“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 Aussies 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 was then ‘The Daily News’ reported that WA Lotteries Commission secretary at the time, Mr Bob Ince, said WA had responded to Saturday Lotto completely differently to any other State, and the team had vastly underestimated how many tickets to print.
Close to three times the predicted 45,000 tickets were snapped up by enthusiastic players and WA’s approximately 200 Lotto retailers were selling out within hours of opening their doors.
Saturday Lotto was great news for the wider Western Australian community too, as the grants pool increased and community organisations across the State benefitted, including Guide Dogs, Silver Chain and the Royal Flying Doctor Service; organisations that Lotterywest still supports today.
Strong Saturday Lotto sales in the first 12 months resulted in the Lotteries Commission’s annual contribution to the Hospital Fund topping $8 million.
At the time the game was State-based, and two WA tickets matched the six winning numbers to the first draw and the $35,000 Division One prize was split between them.
Tickets were sorted manually and prize lists were drawn up by hand, with WA players waiting almost a week to see if they had won. Official prize lists were distributed to Lotto agents the Friday after the draw.
Margaret Hambley, owner of EE Hambley in Queens Park, says her store has been in the family for 78 years.
“I wasn’t working at the store in 1979, but I’ll always remember 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 peoples’ hearts.”
Saturday Lotto continues to be much-loved among West Australian Lotto players, creating countless millionaires and supporting community groups across the State through ticket sales for almost 50 years.
This month, we are saying ‘Long Live Saturday and Saturday Lotto’, with an even bigger Division One prize pool of an estimated $6 million, from Saturday 24 May 2025 (draw 4575) onwards.
Tickets for Saturday Lotto are available until 6pm on draw day in-store, online and via the Lotterywest App.
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