CALGARY – Blackjack pits and spinning roulette wheels are no longer the domain of Las Vegas where thousands of Canadian tourists flocked each year for some sun, fun and titillation.
Now Canadians can save themselves the cost of an airline ticket to Nevada and spend their money at home in casinos that have all the glitter of the strip. For provincial treasuries, those gambling dollars have provided a revenue windfall.
A report from the Alberta department responsible for lotteries, gaming and racing said that the average payout in this province for gambling revenue is 68 percent. Twenty percent of the gross revenue is returned to the province. It is then distributed as grants to support community organizations, sports, arts, health, education, agricultural and environmental organizations and the equine industry. The remainder goes into general government revenue.
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By comparison to the other prairie provinces, Alberta will provide $129.2 million to communities, Manitoba allocated $124.2 million and Saskatchewan gave $38 million to its communities, all derived from gambling.
How much do people spend? Plenty.
In 1983-84 the province received $602 million in revenues from lotteries and gaming activities. Spurred by the growth and popularity of video lottery terminals (VLTs), that revenue grew to $2.215 billion in 1993-94. That means each man, woman and child spent $1,427 on gambling.
Last fiscal year, VLTs yielded $864.6 million, or $463 for each Albertan over 18. Projected income for 1994-95 is $1.3 billion.
Lottery tickets had a gross revenue of $381.5 million last fiscal year of which $125 million will be allocated to communities.
Charitable gaming like casinos and bingo are also popular. Average payout on revenue of $555 million is 74 percent. Broken down, casinos brought in $295 million, bingo earned $327.3 million and pull-tickets (Nevadas) earned a gross revenue of $86.4 million. In this area of gambling, charities receive $106 million, expenses require $89.6 million and general revenue receives less than $1 million.
