Peter Hak Appointed President & CEO of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries

Peter Hak, a longtime Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries executive, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, the Crown corporation’s board of directors announced today. Hak has served as CEO in an acting capacity since October 2016. His role becomes permanent effective immediately.

“Peter Hak is a deeply experienced leader who has the trust and respect of employees across the organization,” said board chair Polly Craik. “Manitobans can expect sound fiscal management and continued improvements to products and services under Peter’s leadership.”

Hak has held a number of senior portfolios at Liquor & Lotteries since first joining Manitoba Lotteries in 1984. He was most recently Chief Corporate Services Officer and previously served as Manitoba Lotteries’ Chief Operating Officer and as Director of Finance. Hak is a chartered accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Manitoba.

Hak said Liquor & Lotteries’ primary focus will be maximizing the Crown corporation’s contribution to the province. 

“When we improve our profitability, Manitobans benefit,” Hak said. “Sound governance, fiscal responsibility and improved revenues are the keys to further strengthening our ability to support important programs and services.”

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries income is directed to the Province of Manitoba to fund health care, education and other provincially administered programs. Liquor & Lotteries returned just over $583 million to the Province last fiscal year.

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La La Land the Favourite on PlayNow.com to Clean Up at 89th Academy Awards

Manitobans make their picks with more than 26 Novelty Bets this O​scar night

Manitobans can wager on the glitz and glamour of the 89th Academy Awards on PlayNow.com. With more than 26 bets and an Oscars pool, bettors can wager on dozens of categories from Best Picture to Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Smash hit La La Land has a record 14 Oscar nominations, and is favoured on PlayNow.com to clean up at the awards ceremony this Sunday. The movie is heavily favoured to win Best Picture and is leading in nine other categories, including Best Director for Damien Chazelle and Best Actress for Emma Stone.

Try to predict just how much La La Land will dominate this Sunday. Will it win more than 8 Oscars? How many of the “Big Four” Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress) will the film garner by the end of the night?

In other categories Jungle Book is favoured to win for Visual Effects, Star Trek Beyond for Makeup and Hairstyling, and Zootopia for Best Animated Feature.

As always, Canadians are part of Oscar night’s mix. Alan Barillaro’s Piper is the frontrunner to win Best Animated Short, and Howard Barish’s13th is in the running for Best Documentary Feature. Ryan Gosling is less of a frontrunner sitting with 11/1 odds of winning the award for Best Actor. In the Best Director category, Denis Villeneuve has 49/1 odds of winning for Arrival.

The Oscars is the most popular awards betting event on PlayNow.com, outpacing the Grammys, Golden Globes and Miss Universe. At last year’s Oscars, the site saw almost $25,000 wagered on more than 2400 bets.

PlayNow.com is Manitoba’s only legal, regulated gambling website, operated by Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries. For more information on the Oscars pool, novelty bets and a complete list of odds, visit PlayNow.com.

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To arrange an interview, contact:

Liquor Mart Louis Riel Day Hours

Most Liquor Mart locations will be open on Louis Riel Day, Monday, February 20, 2017, as follows:

Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

• All Liquor Marts in Winnipeg and Brandon (excluding cityplace)
• Beausejour, Dauphin, Flin Flon, Gimli, Lac du Bonnet, Stonewall, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, and The Pas

Open 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

• Killarney, Minnedosa, Morden, Neepawa, Russell, Swan River, Thompson, and Virden

Closed

• cityplace, Carman, Churchill, Pine Falls, Steinbach, and Winkler

To view each Liquor Mart’s hours of operation, please visit www.LiquorMarts.ca/hours.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries’ corporate offices will be closed on Monday, February 20, 2017.

Canada’s Largest Ever Online Sports Prize Pool

$1 Million Super Pool Up for Grabs this Super Bowl on PlayNow.com

Now, for the first time ever, bettors in Manitoba can test their Super Bowl know-how for a chance to win or share the $1 Million Super Pool on PlayNow.com. This is the largest potential online sports grand prize of its kind ever offered in Canada. 

To win the $1 Million Super Pool, players have to correctly pick all 25 Super Bowl related outcomes on their $5 pool card. The outcomes range from prop bets such as the result of the coin toss, whether an interception will be thrown, to more traditional bets like the total points scored in the game and the winner of Super Bowl Ll. In the event no one selects all 25 outcomes correctly, players with the most correct picks will win or share a jackpot generated by pool sales. Since the pool was announced last week, interest on PlayNow.com has spiked.

In addition to the pool, bettors on PlayNow.com can also wager on more than 300 prop and novelty bets related to the showdown this Sunday between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. The Patriots are currently the favourites to win the Vince Lombardi trophy while the Falcons are the Super Bowl underdogs. Quirky novelty bets include what colour of Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach and whether Lady Gaga will mention Donald Trump.

The Super Bowl is the single biggest sports betting event in North America. Approximately $14.6 million was wagered on the NFL on PlayNow.com during the 2015-16 season.

PlayNow.com is Manitoba’s only legal, regulated gambling website operated by Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries. For more information on the $1 Million Super Pool and Super Bowl odds, visit PlayNow.com. 

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To arrange an interview contact:

Patrick Delaney | Communications Officer
204.957.2500 ext. 2379 | Patrick.Delaney@mbll.ca

Liquor Mart 2016 Winter Holiday Hours

Manitoba Liquor Marts will operate on holiday hours starting Friday, December 9 until Sunday, January 1, as follows:

Friday, December 9 through Thursday, December 15:

• On Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10, most Liquor Mart locations in Winnipeg and Brandon will open at 8:00 am and close at midnight.
• On Sunday, December 11, all Winnipeg and Brandon Liquor Marts will open at 9:00 am and close at 6:00 pm.
• Monday, December 12 through Thursday, December 15, most Liquor Mart locations in Winnipeg and Brandon will open at 8:00 am and close at 11:00 pm.

Friday, December 16 through Friday, December 23:

• Most Liquor Mart locations in Winnipeg and Brandon will open at 8:00 am and close at midnight, except Sunday.
• On Sunday, December 18, all Winnipeg and Brandon Liquor Marts will open at 9:00 am and close at 6:00 pm.

Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24: 

• All Winnipeg and Brandon Liquor Marts will open at 8:00 am and close at 6:00 pm.

Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25: 

• All Manitoba Liquor Marts will be closed.

Boxing Day, Monday, December 26: 

• All Manitoba Liquor Marts will open at 10:00 am and close at 6:00 pm.

Tuesday, December 27 through Friday, December 30:

• Most Liquor Mart locations in Winnipeg and Brandon will open at 8:00 am and close at 11:00 pm.

New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31: 

• Liquor Marts in Winnipeg and Brandon will open at 8:00 am and close at 7:00 pm, except for Brandon West Express and Pembina Village Express locations, which close at 6:00 pm.

New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1:

• All Manitoba Liquor Marts will be closed.

Regular hours of operation resume Monday, January 2, 2017 at all Manitoba Liquor Marts.

Rural Liquor Marts also operate on extended hours in their communities throughout the holiday season; however, hours vary by location. To view each store’s hours of operation, and any exceptions to the hours noted above, please visit us online at www.LiquorMarts.ca/hours.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries’ corporate offices will be closed December 26-27 and January 2.