The odds of a video lottery terminal (VLT) player winning on P.E.I. are lower than in the rest of Atlantic Canada, and Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy is going to look into why.
'The information is there.'- Robert Bourgeois, Atlantic Lottery Corporaton
Each province sets its own winning odds, and the final responsibility for those odds on P.E.I. rests with Murphy.
"I'm not sure what the reasoning for doing it would be at the time," Murphy told CBC News Friday.
"I'm going to have to get myself familiar with it and the reason why and try to understand it."
VLTs on P.E.I. pay out 93 cents for every dollar put into them. In other parts of Atlantic Canada, the payout for many games is slightly higher than 95 per cent.
Atlantic Lottery Corporation runs the machines in all four provinces. Spokesman Robert Bourgeois said the provinces set the payout rates, and it has always been that way.
"The information is there, and like I said, different provinces are set at different things, and that's the way they've always been set," said Bourgeois.
Two percentage points may not seem like much, but it means VLTs on the Island are keeping 40 per cent more of the money put into them than terminals in other provinces do.
And that money goes to the province. P.E.I. is currently earning about $20 million a year from VLTs.
Murphy said while he is looking into the reason for the difference, that doesn't mean he will make a change.
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