• Lottomatica Announces 2006 Full-Year Results. Full Story
• INTRALOT Voted As “Best Workplace” In Greece. Full Story
• Scientific Games Sells Its Racing Communications Business to Roberts Communications. Full Story
• Lottery Ticket Sales Surpass $3 Billion; Lottery Announce Several New Developments. Full Story
• GLI's 6th Annual Regulators Roundtable Draws More Than 250 Regulators From U.S. and Canada. Full Story
• Lottery Receives Ninth Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Full Story
• Veikkaus Offers Its Customers New Benefits. Full Story
• New York Lottery Honored With Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting. Full Story
• GTECH to Supply Instant Ticket Vending Machines (ITVMs) to the Missouri Lottery . Full Story
• Lottery’s Seven Point Trust and Security Action Plan Update. Full Story

Lottomatica Announces 2006 Full-Year Results
Board Of Directors Proposes Dividend Of €0.79 Per Share
Full-Year Revenues of €939 million, including 12 months of Lottomatica Italian operations and four months of GTECH operations, compared to €583 million in 2005
EBITDA at €361 million and EBIT at €219 million, compared to €264 million and €212 million, respectively, in 2005 - EBITDA at €409 million and EBIT at €304 million, excluding transaction costs related to the GTECH acquisition and other items - Reported Net Income of approximately €0.8 million

ROME, Italy - PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, USA (March 9, 2007) – The Board of Directors of Lottomatica S.p.A., chaired by Mr. Lorenzo Pellicioli, approved today the consolidated accounts of Lottomatica Group for 2006, which include 12 months of Lottomatica Italian operations and four months of GTECH operations. The Board of Directors also approved the financial statements of Lottomatica S.p.A. and will submit to the Annual General Meeting for approval. The Board further recommended a proposed dividend, and scheduled an ordinary and extraordinary shareholders’ meeting for April 23, 2007.

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“Our 2006 results were very positive, and we are encouraged by the continuous strong development of the Italian instants market,” said W. Bruce Turner, CEO of Lottomatica Group.  “We are clearly seeing the benefits of the merger and beginning to leverage Lottomatica’s operational expertise in several areas including privatization plans and operator markets around the world.  We are also utilizing our GTECH subsidiary’s operational expertise to supplement growth across the Italian platform as we look to provide a broader array of technology, content and distribution products within our Italian world showcase. Our confidence in 2007 and beyond remains high, and we are excited about the long-term growth prospects of the business.”

“We delivered another strong year of performance in 2006,” said Marco Sala, Managing Director of Lottomatica Italian Operations. “For our Italian operations, total Lottery wagers grew 19 percent year-over-year, and we experienced continued growth in the Commercial Services segment.  With our recent sports betting award, we look forward to launching and developing our Italian sports betting business.”

Lottomatica Group Full-Year Results
Revenues for 2006 totaled €938.9 million including approximately €289.3 million from four months of GTECH operations. Overall, revenues grew 61.1% year-over-year, while revenue from Lottomatica’s Italian operations grew 11.5% year-over-year.
EBITDA was €361.2 million, up 36.8% over the 12 months of 2005.  EBITDA adjusted for transaction and other costs would have been approximately €409 million. EBIT was €218.9 million, and EBIT as adjusted for transaction costs and purchase price amortization for the GTECH acquisition, and other costs, would have been €304 million.
Net Income was €0.8 million for the 12 months ended December 31, 2006.  Included in Net Income was approximately €131 million (after tax) of transaction and other costs.

Lottomatica Italy - Operating Results and Business Highlights
The Italian operations enjoyed substantial revenue growth in the 12 months of 2006, both in the Lottery and the Commercial Services businesses.
Revenues grew approximately 11.5% to €649.6 million in 2006, from €582.8 million in 2005.
Lottery wagers grew approximately 19% to €10.6 billion in 2006, from €8.9 billion for the same period last year, as strong Instants lottery performance more than offset the slight decrease in Lotto.
Lotto game wagers reached €6.6 billion in 2006, a drop of 9.9% against €7.3 billion in 2005, and Lotto revenues were €406.1 million, compared to €432.4 million in 2005.
The strong performance of instant tickets, including traditional lotteries, resulted in sales of approximately €4.0 billion, compared to sales of approximately €1.5 billion in 2005.  The number of Scratch & Win tickets sold equaled 1.6 billion, compared to 795 million in the same period last year.  The price point grew to approximately €2.4, mainly driven by the success of the €5 ticket “Miliardario” launched in September 2005. Revenues for the Instant and Traditional Lotteries business totaled €138.7 million compared with €54.9 million for 2005. In January 2007, the new €10 instant lottery ticket was launched and has been well received by players.
Revenues from Commercial Services improved by 15.7% over last year, driven primarily by an increase in the number of cellular phone top-ups that were processed.
EBITDA for Lottomatica Italian operations was €278.0 million, and as adjusted for transaction and other costs, would have been approximately €298 million.
In December 2006, Lottomatica was awarded 1,144 licenses for sports betting and 500 licenses for horseracing by the Italian government.  Lottomatica is currently the leading operator in the sports betting “shop in shop” segment in Italy, with primary concentration in the main Italian towns, with approximately 45% share of rights.

GTECH Operating Results and Business Highlights
Revenue contribution for the four months of GTECH operations was €289.3 million, with approximately €252.4 million from the Lottery segment, €20.8 million from Gaming Solutions, and approximately €16.1 million from Commercial Services.
EBITDA from GTECH operations was approximately €83.2 million, and excluding transaction and other costs, would have been approximately €111 million.
In 2006, GTECH acquired three new online lottery customers, and made significant strategic progress in its Gaming Solutions business.
GTECH signed a seven-year agreement with the North Carolina Lottery and is providing a fully-integrated online and instant ticket lottery system, lottery terminals, a wireless communications network, ITVMs (Instant Ticket Vending Machines), and ongoing services, including management of the warehousing and distribution of instant tickets.  A seven-year integrated services agreement was received from the Virginia Lottery to provide a new online lottery central system, new terminals, a new wireless communications network and ongoing services.
In addition, GTECH entered into an agreement with Supreme Gaming LLC to become the provider of an online lottery system, products, and ongoing services in Guatemala for 15 years.
GTECH successfully defended lottery contracts in Oregon and Singapore, and received extensions in Kentucky, Minnesota, Beijing, and Trinidad & Tobago.
On the Gaming Solutions front, GTECH received a contract to install a new video central system for Manitoba Lotteries Corporation.  In addition, GTECH launched the largest gaming central system in the state of Pennsylvania. Lottomatica continues to move forward with the necessary commercial gaming licensing activity required to close the pending acquisition of Atronic International, the largest privately-held global provider of gaming equipment. Closing is expected by December 31, 2007 once all necessary regulatory activity is complete.

Other Business Developments
The New York Lottery recently awarded GTECH a three-year contract extension to continue operating the Lottery’s online/instants system and providing ongoing services through February 2010. GTECH expects to receive in excess of €150 million over the three-year period.
GTECH also completed the previously-announced acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Creative Games International, Inc. (CGI), a leading provider of instant lottery tickets for the global lottery industry and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd.
The Camelot consortium, in which GTECH is a major technology supplier, recently submitted a bid for the next license to operate the National Lottery in the U.K.  A decision by the National Lottery is expected in June 2007.

Consolidated Cash Flow and Net Financial Position
Lottomatica Group closed the year with a Net Financial Position of €2.5 billion, with Cash and Equivalents of approximately €396.6 million at the end of period.  During 2006, Lottomatica paid out €119.4 million in dividends.

Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity
Consolidated shareholders’ equity totaled €1.9 billion.

Other Information
The 2006 financial statements approved by the Board of Directors of Lottomatica S.p.A. will be submitted for approval at the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for April 23, 2007.  At this meeting, the Board of Directors will also propose a dividend distribution of €0.79 to shareholders.  If approved at the meeting, the dividend will be paid in May 2007, by means of the existing liquid assets of the Company, with an ex-dividend date of May 21, 2007, payable on May 24, 2007.
Finally, the Board of Directors resolved to propose to the Meeting a new stock option plan for 2007 - 2015, reserved for Lottomatica and its subsidiaries’ employees.

SOURCE: Lottomatica S.p.A.

INTRALOT Voted As “Best Workplace” In Greece

ATHENS, Greece (March 7, 2007) -- INTRALOT was recently voted among the 20 Best Places to Work in Greece for 2007. The “Best Workplaces Hellas 2007” competition is organized by the "Great Place to Work” international Institute and in which take part many national and multinational companies.

This distinction recompenses INTRALOT’s H.R. strategy and practices and justifies its main objective which concerns the staff retention and the amelioration of their living status.

One of its basic objectives, and a keystone of its corporate culture, is to operate on all levels as a winning team, distinguished by its passion for achieving challenging goals and excellence across the entire range of our business activities, as well as integrity and responsibility towards our shareholders, customers, employees and the general public.

INTRALOT’s H.R. Director, Mr. Argyris Tsilidis, said: “Our staff which counts more than 3.600 professionals worldwide, is INTRALOT’s most valuable asset. The Group’s rapid international expansion and solid financial position is a result of a team work and collective effort. INTRALOT recognizes this commitment and thus applies concrete H.R. practices. Our distinction in the “Best Workplaces 2007” competition is one more commitment for the further evolvement of the H.R. policy of our company”.

About INTRALOT (www.intralot.com)
INTRALOT, a public company listed on the ASE, is the second biggest supplier of integrated gaming and transaction processing systems, innovative game content and value added services to state-licensed gaming organizations worldwide. It’s broad portfolio of products & services, its know-how of Lottery, Betting & Video Lottery operations, its experience in sports games and its leading-edge technology, give INTRALOT a competitive advantage, which contributes directly to customers’ efficiency, profitability and growth. With 39 subsidiaries, 8 business offices, more than 3,600 people and revenues of €700 M (Ε) for 2006, INTRALOT’s footprint straddles five continents.

For more information please CONTACT: Ms Evi Ioannidou, Communications Director, Phone: +30-210 6156000, Fax: +30-210 6106800, email: ioannidou@intralot.com.

SOURCE: INTRALOT

Scientific Games Sells Its Racing Communications Business to Roberts Communications

NEW YORK, USA (March 14, 2007) -- Scientific Games (Nasdaq: SGMS) announced today that it has sold its racing communications business to Roberts Communications Network, LLC of Las Vegas, Nevada (Roberts). The sale includes the simulcast transmission division of Scientific Games Racing, LLC (SGR) and a 70% membership interest in the SGR data communications business known as NASRIN(TM) (North American Simulcast Racing Information Network). Churchill Downs (Nasdaq: CHDN), through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, owns the remaining 30% membership interest in NASRIN(TM). Both the SGR simulcast transmission division and the 70% membership interest in NASRIN(TM) will be contributed to Roberts in exchange for a 29.4% membership interest in Roberts as consideration. Roberts will retain a 70.6% membership interest.

Roberts will continue to operate the business with Todd Roberts remaining as the company's President and CEO, and Joseph Hill continuing as its Vice President.

The transaction will create certain economic and operational synergies which are expected to be put to use as follows:

• Creation of a state of the art delivery platform which more effectively provides content to all types of devices including televisions, computers and mobile phones.
• Increased content distribution to and from domestic and international locations, (both commercial and residential), by extending the coverage area of the delivery platform.
• Tightened security to reduce signal piracy and illegal uses of the content.
• Improvement of the quality of service to a "Six Sigma" level to reduce revenue loss caused by downtime.
• Automation of the customer interface aspects of the delivery platform such as scheduling, inventory control and accounting to make the services more user-friendly.
• Accelerated implementation of the above to increase pari-mutuel wagering handle and thereby revenue for the racing industry.

These additional benefits will not only be available to the racing industry but also to the many non-racing customers which Roberts currently serves and intends to pursue in the sports, entertainment, educational, and ethnic programming industries.

"The racing industry will benefit from a more comprehensive network for both the televising of the races and the transmission of betting information," said Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games.

"This transaction facilitates our ability to implement a new global delivery platform to distribute content, whether it be audio, video or data, in a future-proof fashion that will accelerate the industry's race to improve its bottom line." said Todd Roberts, President and CEO of Roberts Communications Network.

The Scientific Games racing communications divisions accounted for approximately $13 million of revenue in 2006. Income statement contribution from the divisions will now be reported as equity income, and Scientific Games expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings.

About Scientific Games
Scientific Games Corporation is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, a leading supplier of fixed odds betting terminals and systems, interactive sports betting terminals and systems, and wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut, Maine and the Netherlands and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. Scientific Games' customers are in the United States and more than 60 other countries. For more information about Scientific Games, please visit our web site at http://www.scientificgames.com.

About Roberts Communications Network
Roberts Communications Network is the leading communications services provider to the pari-mutuel industry. Roberts has been supplying the pari- mutuel industry since 1984, and was a pioneer in the creation of simulcasting for the racing industry. Its services have helped fuel the explosive growth of simulcasting to their current levels. Diversified in recent years, Roberts now serves many industries with a variety of satellite and terrestrial communications services over many technology platforms.

Company Contacts: Scientific Games, Investor Relations, 212-754-2233. Roberts Communications Network, Todd Roberts, President and CEO, 702-227-7510

SOURCE: Scientific Games.

Lottery Ticket Sales Surpass $3 Billion; Lottery Announce Several New Developments

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, USA (March 9, 2007) -- The Tennessee Lottery announced today that gross ticket sales have surpassed $3 billion.

“The momentum created during our first few months continues,” said Rebecca Paul Hargrove, President and CEO. “We’re looking forward to making our next contribution to the Lottery for Education Account at the end of this quarter, which will boost the amount raised for education to over $800 million.”

In addition to the $3 billion sales milestone, the Tennessee Lottery recently announced several new developments, including:

• “Million $ Madness,” a raffle-style game with a limited number of tickets. Odds to win $1 million are the best ever at 1 in 200,000. The Lottery will award four prizes of $1 million each, in addition to other cash prizes.
• “Play it Again!” a program designed to reduce litter and give instant ticket players a second chance to win. To register, players just visit www.tnlottery.com.

“We’ll continue to develop new games, provide superior customer service and maintain the highest integrity in order to continue our success,” said Hargrove.

The Tennessee Lottery began selling its first tickets on January 20, 2004. As of December 31, 2006, the Lottery has raised more than $763 million to fund specific education programs, including college scholarships, pre-kindergarten and after-school programs. For more information, please visit www.tnlottery.com.

SOURCE: Tennessee Lottery.
CONTACT: Kym Gerlock, 615-324-6556 Office, 615-6042827 Mobile.

GLI's 6th Annual Regulators Roundtable Draws More Than 250 Regulators From U.S. and Canada

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, USA (March 7, 2007) – Gaming Laboratories International’s (GLI) recent 6th annual Regulators Roundtable and Users Conference drew a record crowd of more than 250 regulators from over 30 jurisdictions across the United States and Canada.

The annual event is staged as a forum for regulators across North America to convene for two days of intense training and updates on the latest technology affecting gaming products and regulations.

Presentations covered a wide range of new technology topics from server-based gaming and wireless technologies to guaranteed play and electronic table games. In addition to the speakers, the Roundtable serves as a unique opportunity for regulators to discuss policies and problems and seek common solutions.

Beyond the seminars, more than 65 regulators were escorted through an in-depth tour of GLI’s Las Vegas laboratory and interoperability center, and a mix of more than 300 regulators and gaming industry representatives joined in a cocktail reception for powerful networking.

GLI President and co-founder James R. Maida said, “No other company produces an event like this, and it really is an incredible resource for regulators to hear from experts on new technologies that will soon be appearing in their jurisdictions, and to talk one-on-one with their peers about how they are addressing various issues back at home.”

Staged early last month, the event was presented free of charge to state and Tribal regulators. Now in its sixth year, the event continues to draw larger and larger crowds. “I remember just three years ago, we had about 70 attendees, and now here we are hosting more than 250,” Maida said.

The seventh annual Regulators Roundtable is tentatively scheduled for February 6-8, 2008, in Las Vegas, which will include two days of training and a day-long lab tour.

About Gaming Laboratories International
Gaming Laboratories International currently operates wholly owned and fully staffed gaming test laboratories in Lakewood, NJ; Golden, CO; Las Vegas, NV; GLI Europe, B.V. in Hillegom, The Netherlands; GLI Africa in Pretoria, South Africa; GLI Italia, in Bologna, Italy and GLI Asia, Macau, China. Gaming Laboratories Australia operates fully accredited test laboratories in Sydney and Adelaide under license to GLI. GLI is the only laboratory, public or private, that maintains ISO 17025 Accreditation at all of its testing laboratory locations.

CONTACT: Christie Eickelman, Director of Worldwide Marketing, +1 (702) 914-2220 or Email: c.eickelman@gaminglabs.com

Gaming Laboratories International, GLI Europe B.V., GLI Africa, GLI, and Gaming Laboratories Australia and associated globe logos are trademarks of Gaming Laboratories International, Inc.

SOURCE: GLI press release distributed by Steinbeck Communications.
CONTACT: Paul Speirs, P: 702-413-4278, F: 702-233-3492, E: paulspeirs@cox.net.

Lottery Receives Ninth Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting

LOUISIANA, USA (March 9, 2007) -- President Rose Hudson announced that the Louisiana Lottery Corporation has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the ninth straight year from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for a corporation that has built its foundation on maintaining public trust and integrity," said Hudson.  "My sincerest appreciation to the Lottery's accounting team for continuing to reach these high standards of excellence."

According to the GFOA, the Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. 

Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government entity and its management.

The association is a nonprofit group with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and serves about 16,000 government financial professionals.

SOURCE: Louisiana Lottery.

Veikkaus Offers Its Customers New Benefits

VEIKKAUS, Finland (March 13, 2007) -- In March, Veikkaus starts to offer various monthly changing benefits of different levels to its customers. The new customer benefits have to do with the beneficiaries of Veikkaus funds or with Veikkaus’ partners in cooperation.

Our customers are offered a chance to win invitations to various top events as Veikkaus’ guests in “Golden Ticket Draws”. In the March draw, we will be distributing tickets for the Eurovision finals, including hotel accommodation and entrance for two persons. Each customer playing with a Veikkaus card or on our website takes part in the draw. 

Further, we will allot tickets to, e.g., the theatre or a football match among customers who have played a certain game. All draws can also be taken part in without playing the games, by entering the draw on our website. By showing their Veikkaus cards, the players may also gain free entrance to various events and exhibitions.

Veikkaus card was introduced in autumn 2006. So far, more than 100,000 players have ordered it already.   

SOURCE: Veikkaus' eNews distributed by Veikkaus Communications.

New York Lottery Honored With Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting

SCHENECTADY, New York, USA (March 2007) -- The New York Lottery has been awarded the prestigious Certificate in Achievement in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for the year ending March 31, 2006. The award is issued by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) to government units whose CAFRs achieve the highest standards in government accounting and financial reporting.

New York Lottery Director Robert J. McLaughlin said of the award, “The New York Lottery is honored to be recognized by the GFOA for our ongoing efforts to achieve ever higher levels of transparency and clarity in our financial reporting practices.”

The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment, according to the GFOA, “represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.”

The Lottery’s CAFR was judged by an impartial panel to have met the high standards of the program, which include demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate the Lottery’s financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

The New York Lottery, the largest lottery in the country and the sixth largest in the world, has generated more than $30 billion in revenue to help support education in New York State, including a record $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2005-2006 on revenues of $6.8 billion.

For more information, contact the New York Lottery Press & Community Relations office at 518-388-3415 or email questions@nylottery.state.ny.us

SOURCE: New York Lottery.

GTECH to Supply Instant Ticket Vending Machines (ITVMs) to the Missouri Lottery

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, USA (March 12, 2007) -- GTECH Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lottomatica S.p.A., announced that it has been chosen to provide the Missouri Lottery with 550 Instant Ticket Vending Machines (ITVMs). The 24-bin Expandable Dispensing System-Quad™ (EDS-Q) ITVMs will replace machines already in the field, and GTECH will also provide machine service and maintenance. This award is the result of a competitive procurement process. GTECH expects to receive approximately $7 million in revenue from this five- year lease agreement, which will commence in July of this year.

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“Self-service technology plays a vital role in today’s lottery market, and these ITVMs will support the Missouri Lottery’s instant ticket sales growth,” said W. Bruce Turner, GTECH President & CEO and Lottomatica S.p.A.  CEO. “We are proud of the Missouri Lottery’s continued confidence in GTECH’s ability to provide quality products and services.”

“We’re looking forward to the new GTECH machines,” said Larry Jansen, Executive Director of the Missouri Lottery. “The EDS-Q machines have a proven track record with 16,450 of these machines currently in use. In addition to a high-quality product, GTECH has extensive experience in the conversion process, and they can provide us with a seamless transition with almost no downtime.”

The Missouri Lottery has been a valued GTECH customer since 1991. Since its inception, the Missouri Lottery has returned more than $2.8 billion to the state and its public education programs.

About GTECH
GTECH is a leading gaming technology and services company, providing innovative technology, creative content, and superior service delivery.  Lottomatica is one of the world’s largest commercial lottery operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry. GTECH and Lottomatica together create a fully integrated lottery operator and gaming technology solutions provider - a combined company with worldwide scale, considerable financial strength, and industry-leading customer solutions. Lottomatica is majority owned by the De Agostini Group, a century-old publishing, media, and financial services company. Lottomatica is publicly traded on the Italian Stock Exchange (LTO), and in 2006, had more than 1.6 billion euros in revenues and 6,000 employees in over 50 countries when combined with GTECH.

CONTACT: Robert K. Vincent, Public Affairs, GTECH Corporation. Phone: 401-392-7452.

SOURCE: GTECH Corporation

Lottery’s Seven Point Trust and Security Action Plan Update

TORONTO, Canada (March 14, 2007) -- Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) announced last November the implementation of a comprehensive package of new and expanded lottery security measures featuring technological and human measures. Significant progress had been made on many of the initiatives as outlined in the following update:

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1. Self-Serve Ticket Checkers:
To date, more than 1,800 ticket checkers have been installed at our lottery terminal locations. Installation of the ticket checkers at all our 8,800 lottery terminal locations continues across the province. The ticket checkers display the prize amount on winning on-line tickets (i.e. LOTTO 6/49, SUPER 7, ENCORE). We expect to have all of our ticket checkers installed by the end of April.

2. Enforce Correct Retailer Validation Procedures - customers must sign the back of their lottery tickets:
Enhanced Validation Procedures - OLG continues to educate both retailers and consumers about our enhanced validation procedures. We ask consumers to sign their tickets and we remain committed to working with our retailers to make these changes work. Retailers must follow these simple steps:

1. Always ask customers to sign their ticket before validation. Customers may choose not to sign, but retailers MUST ask.
2. Always show customers the original ticket and Validation (Pay) slip together, so they can see the control numbers match.
3. Always return the Validation (Pay) Slip to customers.

OLG lottery sales staff contacted all lottery retailers and reviewed proper ticket validation procedures. Staff continue to review these procedures and to ensure compliance by all retailers.

3. Customer-Facing Lottery Screen Improvements:
Prize validation messages for all our tickets are now more prominent, they are displayed for a longer time, and new video clips draw the winners' attention to the details of the prize they have won.

Customer Facing Video Screens - New messaging for the customer display screen emphasizes the "Play with Confidence", "Sign Your Ticket" and "Where to Check your Ticket" message.

Enhanced Validation Messages - All validations messages that appear on the bottom of the Customer Display Screen are larger and the amount of the win is easily visible. Exact prize amounts up to $1,000 will also be displayed. In addition, the message for non-winning tickets also clearly identifies them as non-winners.

On-Line Ticket Branding during Validation - All non-winning on-line tickets are 'branded' when validated at the lottery terminal. The message, "Not In Winner File" is printed down the left side of the ticket.

Prizes over $10 thousand: If a customer wins a prize of $10 thousand or more on one of our on-line games, a new 30 second 'Big Winner' video plays on the screen. The lottery terminal also plays a new jingle which includes a voice telling the retailer to return the ticket to the customer. The terminal then stops functioning (Terminal Freeze) and can only be re-started by OLG after our Customer Excellence Centre has spoken to both the retailer and the customer.

4. Public Awareness Campaign:
Phase Two of the public education campaign due at the end of March will feature a new round of newspaper advertisements, introducing the new ticket checkers and encouraging customers to also check their tickets themselves.
Phase One of public education campaign has been completed. Large advertisements placed multiple times in more than 40 Ontario daily newspapers last December, reinforced the importance of customers signing the back of their lottery tickets. The ads also reminded lottery players of all the various sources where numbers can be checked including our website. This same information also appears on OLG.ca and on the Customer facing screens at lottery terminal locations.

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5. Consumer Input:
Through newspaper advertising, OLG has been encouraging customers to provide us with their suggestions and comments. We've established two new options on our toll-free line (1-800-387-0098) - a consumer suggestion option and a prize claim option - and a new e-mail address (playwithconfidence@olg.ca) for just this purpose. To date, OLG's Customer Excellence Centre has responded to more than 1,500 consumer calls regarding suggestions, and has answered more than 200 consumer e-mails related to our 7-Point Action Plan.

6. New Investigation Threshold for Retailers Wins:
We now complete a detailed investigation of the prize claim whenever a retailer claims a prize of $10,000 or more (previously $50,000+). This includes interviews with the retailer and verification of purchasing information and previous playing statistics. Only when this investigation is complete and the claim proved to be valid is the prize paid out. If OLG believes there is a serious concern with a retailer lottery prize claim, the appropriate police authorities are contacted immediately.

7. Enhanced Complaints Process and Investigation Procedures:
OLG has expanded resources by contracting an investigation company with a staff of more than twenty-five experienced, retired police officers to assist with timely retailer win investigations and any and all other complaints. OLG has also hired two new full-time staff in the investigations unit to assist with complaints and investigation procedures and ensure that each and every complaint is documented and reviewed.
OLG is a provincial agency responsible for province-wide gaming facilities and lottery games, and generates approximately $2 billion in proceeds for the province to support hospitals, health care, charities and other important public benefits. With revenues of $6 billion and more than 20,000 employees and associates, OLG is one of North America's leading gaming enterprises.

SOURCE: OLG. CONTACT: Public Affairs, (705) 946-6714.