High Rate of Lottery Wins Among ALC Retailers
Eyes have been raised over new statistics released by the Atlantic Lottery Corp that retailers and their employees have a much higher rate of big jackpot wins than the rest of the public.
Retailers and employees won a record 165 jackpots over $1,000 last year, and the higher the jackpot amount, the higher rate of wins.
The ALC has defended these numbers by saying: "Retailers and retail employees play our games differently than the general public."
"Retailers and retail employees play more than the average player and spend more when they do play," according to ALC spokesman, Craig Ennis.
Luck Improves as Lottery Sum Grows
Statistics released by the ALC show the following:
- During the fiscal year ending March 2014, lottery retailers and their employees won $20.6 million in big prizes.
- As the value of the jackpots grew, so too did the group's luck.
- Of the over 4,000 prizes awarded by the ALC between the value of $1,000 to $10K, retailers won 3.4%.
- Of the 464 prizes over $10,000, retailers won 6%.
According to CBC News, "that's a 76% better win rate for big prizes than small ones, a mysterious pattern that has shown itself in the retail group and defied explanation for years."
No Lottery Foul Play Found
This pattern has been investigated over the years, with the latest study undertaken by University of Moncton statistician, Jacques Allard, who was commissioned by the Atlantic Lottery Corp.
The results of Allard's study, published in 2012, show that there was no evidence of fraud or manipulation by retailers, and he concluded that the win rates came from more intense scrutiny of big wins in the retail group by ALC officials.
Ruling out manipulation, the ALC now feels that retailers simply play the lottery differently.
"This category of players have a preference for our regional games, such as Atlantic 49, Keno, Salsa Bingo, etc. than the general population," said the ALC spokesperson.
"Retailers and retail employee have a preference for Scratch'N Win products. And since 2011-12, there has been a 68 per cent increase in prizes over $10,000.
