Expert: Ontario lottery retailers' luck suspicious

ONTARIO – As reported by the CBC News: "The CBC's The Fifth Estate has learned that in the past seven years Ontario clerks and retailers have claimed lottery victories nearly 200 times, a statistical anomaly according to one expert.

"In a disputed ticket case involving a Coboconk, Ont., senior, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC) said there were about 60,000 people selling lottery tickets in the province.

"Through the Freedom of Information Act, CBC has learned that retailers won close to 200 times, winning on average $500,000.

"Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, a statistician with the University of Toronto and author of Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Possibilities, said statistically retailers should have been expected to win around 57 times.

"…Last week, the OLGC revised its total, claiming there are actually about 140,000 retailers and clerks in Ontario.

"Rosenthal argued even with that total, the number of wins was 'extremely unlikely.'…"