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Atlantic Lottery Corp. not concerned by 165 jackpots won by retailers last year

Atlantic Lottery learned from GeoSweep flop, CEO says

A new report has been released about the notably high rate at which retail workers in Atlantic Canada happen to win the lottery and those reading this in Ontario right now might be saying to themselves, "Why does this ring a bell?"

That's because the central province not so long ago found a similar trend taking place and was forced to crack down on what appeared to be a deluge of insiders winning big.

According to CBC News, Atlantic Lottery Corp. retailers and employees claimed 165 jackpots worth over $1,000 in the past year, a rate believed to be a record high and 10 times the rate of the general public.

The report found that retailers won major jackpots at a statically impressive rate – for a total of $20.6 million overall. They were found to have won 3.4 per cent of jackpots worth between $1,000 and $10,000, and six per cent of jackpots worth more than $10,000.

ALC spokesman Craig Ennis told Yahoo Canada News that the rate was likely attributed to the differences in the way people play the lottery. While the public tends to prefer national contests with longer odds, those closer to the game tend towards regional games. They also play more often, which could attribute for the higher win rate.

There is also this. While insiders won $20.3 million of the $60.8 million awarded in major prizes (those pots of more than $10,000), the rate was skewed by the fact that most of that is attributed to a single $15-million grand prize won by a group of retail employees.

“What’s really important is that no prize is awarded unless we are 100% confident that we are awarding to the rightful owner,” Ennis said in an email exchange.

“Ensuring the fairness and integrity of our games is the most important thing we do; our security policies and practices which are recognized as best-in-class when it comes to player protection allow us to ensure fairness and integrity. All related party claims last year were paid out.”

In other words, there is no concern that any prizes won by those inside the Atlantic Canadian retail world last year – those who handle outgoing and incoming lottery tickets – have come upon their winnings through nefarious means.

Indeed, a review commissioned by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation in 2012 found that the number of insider winners at the time was within a natural range. Though the statistician that headed the review urged ALC to monitor wins over $25,000 and take note if the frequency of insider wins did not decrease.

Several years prior to this, however, a worse-case scenario played out in Ontario. In 2006, the CBC's investigation series The Fifth Estate profiled Bob Edmonds, a senior who complained he was cheated out of his fortune by a lottery ticket retailer who duped him out of his winning ticket.

The report led to changes from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and a provincial ombudsman's investigation into the gaming industry's history.

The investigation confirmed that at least 78 retail owners and 131 employees won major jackpots in Ontario between 1999 and 2006, some of which had even been labeled as suspicious by the OLG.

"Certainly many of these wins are legitimate, but it is equally clear that millions of dollars have been paid out in what are dishonest claims," Ombudsman Andre Marin wrote at the time.

While the OLG already had a policy governing large prize claims from retailers and other insiders, those policies were strengthened and expanded in the wake of the report. Most significantly, it implemented a "No Play at Work" policy, which requires retailers and employees buy tickets from another location, and places a freeze of such claims in order to ensure a complete review.

That's not to suggest that all insider wins are the cause of nefariousness and trickery. Here's a 2012 story about convenience store owners who played the lottery and won a $50-million jackpot. They reported their insider status and, following a standard investigation, received their life-changing prize.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation already has significant oversight measures in place. All prize claims of $10,000 or greater are reviewed, and that threshold is dropped to $1,000 when dealing with claims made by "related parties" – which includes retailers, their employees and family members of those who work for the lottery corporation.

"The purpose of the review is to confirm, without a doubt, legitimate ownership of the ticket. The information gathered is cross-referenced with the transactional data associated with that ticket. If there is any doubt about legitimate ownership, the prize is not paid and further investigation is conducted," reads an ALC advisory.

And lastly, for those still haunted by the high percentage of prizes claimed by Atlantic insiders, there is this. Canadian statistician Mohan Srivastava, whose analysis of Ontario scratch lottery probability led to changes in 2003, has lent credence to the idea that lotto retailers are more likely to play, and therefore win, than the general population.

Makes sense: If you are surrounded by lottery tickets all day, you are bound to dabble. Still, those people are also the gatekeepers that stand between lottery players and their fortunes. So it’s just an sensible to have all eyes watching.

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