Owners Not Cheating

12/25/2008		Americans Like It
Home History Games News Dictionary		After a year of investigations in the Canadian lottery scandals from 2007, some definitive information has resulted from the inquiries, with some interesting answers. Overall, however, no wrong doing was found and mathematicians are having a hay day trying to justify the results. April of 2007 saw a report made in regards to how much more often lottery store owners and operators as well as their families and friends win large prizes than do the general public. The question escalated to a thorough investigation into the random number practices and ethical business dealings of the Atlantic Lottery corporation who run most of the locations. The claim that ALC employees and their loved ones win 10 times more often than statistics should imply they should has been painstakingly examined, to the conclusion that no cheating has taken place. The new study, published in November of 2008, shows that ‘insider’ or ‘non-arm’s-length’ winners are numerically where they should be, although there is some dissention as to why it’s so much higher than the public’s wins. ‘Insiders’ win 7.14 percent of the grander prizes, meaning those valued above $10,000, whereas their wins in the lower category ($1- $9,999) are just 3.91%. Ian Dohoo, a mathematician at UPEI (University of Prince Edward Island) says that the chances of such a change in spread naturally are 1 in 285. Dr Jacques Allard, a colleague, disagrees. "The retail owners tend to play the high-stakes games," said Allard. "The general public tend to choose much more the game where you win often but lower prizes." He maintains that the choice in games makes up for the difference. Just in case, all ALC stores have amped up their security measures as a safety precaution, making sure that honesty really is the winners’ best policy.

12/25/2008

Americans Like It

After a year of investigations in the Canadian lottery scandals from 2007, some definitive information has resulted from the inquiries, with some interesting answers. Overall, however, no wrong doing was found and mathematicians are having a hay day trying to justify the results.
April of 2007 saw a report made in regards to how much more often lottery store owners and operators as well as their families and friends win large prizes than do the general public. The question escalated to a thorough investigation into the random number practices and ethical business dealings of the Atlantic Lottery corporation who run most of the locations. The claim that ALC employees and their loved ones win 10 times more often than statistics should imply they should has been painstakingly examined, to the conclusion that no cheating has taken place.

The new study, published in November of 2008, shows that ‘insider’ or ‘non-arm’s-length’ winners are numerically where they should be, although there is some dissention as to why it’s so much higher than the public’s wins. ‘Insiders’ win 7.14 percent of the grander prizes, meaning those valued above $10,000, whereas their wins in the lower category ($1- $9,999) are just 3.91%. Ian Dohoo, a mathematician at UPEI (University of Prince Edward Island) says that the chances of such a change in spread naturally are 1 in 285. Dr Jacques Allard, a colleague, disagrees.

"The retail owners tend to play the high-stakes games," said Allard. "The general public tend to choose much more the game where you win often but lower prizes." He maintains that the choice in games makes up for the difference.

Just in case, all ALC stores have amped up their security measures as a safety precaution, making sure that honesty really is the winners’ best policy.