Lotto winnings capped at 70% when sales are exceeded

Mario Cassar

May 19th 2011, 17:15

It is obvious that Alfred Muscat writing yesterday is not a lotto receiver and has no relation with the sector because otherwise he would not have been so misinformed about this whole matter. He would have been well aware that since 2008, Maltco has been subsidising the game by not applying to the full extent the reduction of prizes to 70% of sales, which the Company is entitled to do in accordance with the agreement which had been reached with both LGA and LRU with the participation of the Ministry of Finance.

Had he been the President of the LRU, Mr Muscat would have known that the capping mechanism was not proposed by MALTCO which resisted its introduction in favour of other solutions which, however were not acceptable to the LRU at the time. Time has now proven that these solutions proposed by Maltco would have been more suitable.

Indeed, MALTCO subsidised the winnings of the Saturday Lotto to mitigate some of the foreseen effects and this subsidisation contributed to the continued increase in the game’s popularity. This in turn, together with other new games, practically doubled the income earned by agents leading many of them to expand their business, open bigger shops and hence deliver a better service to their clients. It also provided more tax to Government.

Mr Muscat’s opinion does not reflect that of the LRU and the other lotto receivers, who have repeatedly praised the company for its excellent support and for developing the sector to their benefit. Nor does it reflect the opinion of the new entrepreneurs who put their trust in the Company and invested in this business by opening new shops from which to make their living.

Far from being arrogant, this shows the commitment of MALTCO to the success of the Saturday Lotto game and its continuing development more so since Maltco was not fully aware, at the time of taking over the operation, of the true risk inherent in the game.

Mario Cassar
General Director

Mr Chris Debono

May 17th 2011, 19:08

Shame we can't buy tickets online....Maltco please note.

Mr Alex Coppola

May 17th 2011, 16:15

With this atitude Maltco is encouraging illegal lotto or any other illegal gambling.
In my opinion winnings should always be the same no matter how much the sales figures are as it had been in the past. At least one knows exactly what the winnings are.
Shame on this company this is daylight robbery.

Ms D Galea

May 17th 2011, 11:57

Gambling is strictly for suckers or the very rich with money to fritter away.

Chantelle Mifsud

May 17th 2011, 09:12

So the goverment abolished gabling machines from bars etc.. and yeah I do agree for all the reasons . But than the problem is that lotto , super 5 etc is giving publicity . This country is not aware of how many people are trapped in this system of playing lotto and spr 5 for years . They cannot just say .. ok i m not playing any lotto this week ,their scared and as a consequence they are cought up in this vicious circle . I know that we cannot control it completly , but at least i would suggest that ; Everyone should show up his I D card and every person needs to have an account with Maltaco , People can decide to sign up for a year, the same as they do in casinos . All the numbers thet have been played should be saved in their account . even if someone won and lost the ticket .

Ray Mangion

May 17th 2011, 08:23

If someone wins outright, he/she should get all the money as published and not a percentage of it.

Mr Omar Zammit

May 17th 2011, 07:59

u kif jghidu... il-huta z-zghira qatt ma tista tiekol lillhuta l-kbira

Charlie Borg

May 17th 2011, 07:54

Haqqkom: paxxuhom, u komplu ilghabu!

Frederick Frendo

May 17th 2011, 05:10

good thing I got to know now. I'll skip this week's super 5

Mr A Cardona

May 16th 2011, 23:46

This is really unfair. Maltco is a business and in this case its gambling too against the players. If it invested in this area it must have known the worst case scenarios. If now its finding excuses when occasionally it ends up on the loosing side, it is really unprofessional.

Just a reminder to Maltco ....... there are many alternatives online.

David Felici

May 16th 2011, 23:08

Better Maltco told everyone how much you are not paying the winners......65 % less of what is usually paid!! After eighteen years of playing lotto, last Saturday was my lucky day.....(at least I thought for nearly an hour)...I guessed a terno which should have paid €10,000. You can imagine how happy my family and I were. And how many phone calls and plans one can do in an hour....especially when you are in the process of buying a new home etc....
But then I was so frustrated when on Maltco's website I found out that what I have really won was just 1/3 of the sum.....i.e €3,500. Shame on Maltco !!

Mr Alexander Azzopardi

May 16th 2011, 21:19

Another reason not to gamble
fejn jaqbilom u kif jaqbilom !

Stuart French

May 16th 2011, 21:13

So the last result was 203% of sales, that's one lottery result, lotteries (particuarlty lottery companies with as much experience as Maltco / intralot) understand the odds, and win big when the lottery is not won, and when it does then fall out big they have already calculated the profits, as the win lottery value only grows on non win weeks by an amount they put forward (which should be minus costs / profit).

If they have been continually filling a deficit all this time on wins, then who's been allowing them to do this, surely at some point their upper management should not have let this practice start, as its not sustainable, unless you want to continue to secure your market share, and therefore see the win deficit you are filling as a marketing and aquisition cost.

Maltco (70+ % owned by intralot) have a monopoly here, maybe its time to have some of that EU free services and consumer choice in the lottery sector too.

A. Borg

May 16th 2011, 19:51

Proset u meta ma jkunx hemm hafna rebh se taghtu izjed?

Albert Zammit

May 16th 2011, 19:37

I have been playing Lotto for almost 40 years. But this 35% rule is putting me off. It's either the company pays full, (at least from next time) or I'll quit playing the game...Simple as that.

Jon Agius

May 16th 2011, 19:12

Another reason why the betting companies will always be the winners no matter how much you win.

Mr Vincent Cassar

May 16th 2011, 18:52

Jekk verament nemmnu fil-familja irridu nikkontrollaw dan il-loghob esagerat kollu....dawn huma ftit mill-affarijiet illi f'kultura neo-liberali ikissru il-familji; dawn huma l-affarijiet illi jinkoraggixxu it-tkissir fil-familji u allura ir-rikors ghad-divorzju.

Mr James Galea

May 16th 2011, 18:50

What about when no five winning numers are drawn in the super five.