Check this out from the Kamloop's Daily News...........
Sunday, January 3, 1999
Updated weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings
B.C. Lottery headed for record year
By CAM FORTEMS
Daily News Staff Reporter
B.C. Lottery Corp. expects to break the billion-dollar sales barrier later this month.
The figure represents a milestone for the Kamloops-based Crown corporation, which entered a new phase beginning in late 1997 when it brought slot machines to B.C.
"We're looking for the first time hitting a billion dollars this fiscal year April to April," said Gail White, manager of corporate affairs for the lottery corporation.
The $1-billion mark will be passed in the third or fourth week of January, the corporation predicts.
The target for the year ending March 31 (the province's fiscal year end) is $1.1 billion in sales.
Changes to gaming brought in by the NDP government in 1997 and 1998 saw a variety of new products, including slot machines, electronic bingo and gaming tables with new limits.
"Last year with our cumulative sales we hit just below $1 billion," White said. "We came in at $942 million overall."
On April 1 a new Lake City Casino operation opened in the Stockmen's Hotel, complete with 275 slot machines. There are now seven casinos in B.C. operating 1,430 slots, which White said "will have an impact" on the overall budget.
Kamloops MLA Cathy McGregor said the province will continue with its expansion of gaming this year.
"I don't anticipate with the addition of a couple of destination casino operations the (lottery corporation's) revenues will be at astronomical levels at all."
Despite the introduction of slots, lottery tickets remain the prime product at the lottery corporation. Tallies were not available for the split this calendar year, but a typical week shows slots and tables pull in a minority of revenue.
White estimated about $25 million in revenue was taken in across B.C last week. Of that amount, about $4.1 million came from table games and $2.8 million came from slots.
The figures contrast with Alberta where projected income from all gambling in the 1998-1999 budget year is $767 million. The majority of that revenue, $518 million, comes from video lottery terminals.
"Our plan is our expansion should be modest," said McGregor. "Where communities have said they don't want destination casinos they've had the ability to demonstrate that. We've taken a very different course from Alberta."
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