 Hala Halaby, an employee at an OLG retail location, will be off to Lebanon as soon as she cashes in on her $250,000 Daily Keno jackpot. (Sun Media/Joe Warmington)
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TORONTO -- Forget the luck of the Irish. How about the luck of the lottery retailer?
People who sell lottery tickets for the OLG seem to have more good fortune than anybody.
"Congratulations to Hala Halaby, of Toronto, who won $250,000 from the Daily Kenodraw on May 29, 2009," a news release from the embattled, disgraced and shamed gaming monopoly read yesterday. "As Hala Halaby is an employee at an OLG retail location, this prize falls within OLG's definition of an Insider Win."
I know what you're thinking. It looks like the best way to get your hands on one of these lottery jackpots is to get yourself a job pushing the buttons on one of those blue machines.
Gallery: Canada's lucky lottery winners
Thanks to Ombudsman Andre Marin, audits have determined insiders have scored $198 million since 1995. There are so many amazing stories -- from the Jackson family, of Jellicoe, who cashed out 167 lottery wins for $1.2 million from their own store, to the $8.5-millon Lotto 6/49 jackpot win by OLG system administrator Stephen Cook in 2006.
In '06, U of T math professor Jeffrey Rosenthal concluded: "Owners and employees do a lot better than the rest of us."
As was revealed this week, so did OLG brass, who were doing the expenses' happy dance to such a level Premier Dalton McGuinty fired the lot of them.
And then comes this press release yesterday.
At first blush, I'm thinking, what are the odds? So I drove up there to see her and actually found a nice person who I'm pleased won the prize.
"I can now go and see my ill father in Lebanon," said a friendly Halaby, a mother of two.
She tells me she bought the $4 ticket May 29 by pressing a newly installed retailer's button and won on Daily Keno that night. At the winner's office, she identified herself as a lottery retailer.
"Major prize claims by insiders are subject to an independent investigation," according to the press release.
Do you trust lotteries?
And Halaby, who hadn't won before but had a player in her store win a $25,000 KENO this summer, says she has been investigated until the cows come home.
"The investigator was very nice, but the people at first sort of treat you like a criminal. They kind of took the joy out of winning."
Shame on those who did that because the lack of confidence in Ontario gaming is hardly her fault. But on the bright side, the OLG says that "this investigation has been completed and the prize claim has been approved for payment."
Unless someone complains within the next 30 days, Halaby will get her jackpot Oct. 5.
And she should. But she should also be the last insider lottery winner in Ontario. People who sell tickets shouldn't be able to play on machines they work on. It's bad optics, and unfair to the real players. Also, those who take home a paycheque from the OLG should be exempt from playing the lottery.
In addition, until a new OLG boss is named and a proper probe completed, all games should be halted and machines frozen. After the next draw with tickets in the field, the OLG should be on suspension until better operators are installed. It's the only real way to restore confidence in this sorry corporation.
Meanwhile, the luckiest person of the week isn't Halaby but McGuinty, who would've been in his own jackpot if former attorney general Michael Bryant hadn't been in his. Luck-of-the-Irish McGuinty is not only the Teflon premier but one with horseshoes.
Still, much of the public has lost confidence in the integrity of the OLG -- which right now is rudderless and pathetic. The police would have been called in a long time ago, and for a lot less if this had been a private firm.
Ask Garth Drabinksy or Conrad Black.
In light of the dismissal of the CEO and senior officials at the OLG, there should be a public inquiry in which it should be determined just how much money is paid out to players, compared to what amount is brought in.
The premier embarrassingly once said Ontario is "addicted" to gaming profits, which sadly might explain why the blind eye has been turned for so long. The truth is the government should have fallen because of this lottery mess, the slush fund or eHealth scandals, but will roll the dice and you won't notice.
We'll see at election time, but remember these gamblers seem to be the luckiest players in the game -- with the exception, of course, of the lottery retailers.
JOE.WARMINGTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
