Albertans Are the Biggest GamblersOnlinecasino.org News | 26.11.2009 | 12:16:07 | Views: 195 | Casino NewsAccording to a recent report by Statistics Canada, Albertans are the biggest spenders when it comes to gambling. The Calgary Herald published the results, stating that residents of the province of Alberta spend far more money on gambling than those in any other location throughout the country. While the national average amount of money spent on gambling remains at $524, while the average Albertan spends $890 annually on gambling. As a whole province, they spent $25 billion during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. While the total is significantly less than 2007’s total, which sat at $26.3 billion, Alberta is still far ahead of the rest of the country in terms of gambling funds.
“The Alberta government is dependent on [gambling revenues] more than most across Canada”, says Calgary Liberal MLA Kent Hehr.
Of this total, $15.5 bill was spent on slot machines and $8.9 was put towards VLTs (video lottery terminals) while the remainder was spent on bingo and lottery tickets. VLTs saw the largest decrease, dropping 16% from 2008’s impressive $11 billion revenue generation.
“It’s a reflection of the downturn and also the age of our VLTs”, said Fred Lindsay, Alberta’s Solicitor General. He believes that many of the video lottery terminals are too outdated for today’s gamblers, who are used to playing state-of-the-art software at online casinos. As a result, the number of VLTs has dropped 5% to 5900 while 7% more slot machines made their way into the province, possibly stealing players away from VLTs.
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