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A lottery is a form of
gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...
that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. The most common regulation is prohibition of sale to minors, and vendors must be licensed to sell lottery tickets. Although lotteries were common in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and
sweepstake A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...
s, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries. This remained so until well after World War II. In the 1960s,
casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...
s and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes. Lotteries come in many formats. For example, the prize can be a fixed amount of cash or goods. In this format, there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. More commonly, the prize fund will be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50–50" draw, where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on the lottery ticket, resulting in the possibility of multiple winners.


Classical history

The first recorded signs of a lottery are keno slips from the Chinese
Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
between 205 and 187 BC. These lotteries are believed to have helped to finance major government projects like the
Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
. From the Chinese '' Book of Songs'' (2nd millennium BC.) comes a reference to a game of chance as "the drawing of wood", which in context appears to describe the drawing of lots. The first known European lotteries were held during the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, mainly as an amusement at dinner parties. Each guest would receive a ticket, and prizes would often consist of fancy items such as dinnerware. Every ticket holder would be assured of winning something. This type of lottery, however, was no more than the distribution of gifts by wealthy noblemen during the
Saturnalia Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...
n revelries. The earliest records of a lottery offering tickets for sale is the lottery organized by Roman Emperor
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
. The funds were for repairs in the City of Rome, and the winners were given prizes in the form of articles of unequal value.


Medieval history

The first recorded lotteries to offer tickets for sale with prizes in the form of money were held in the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
in the 15th century. Various towns held public lotteries to raise money for town fortifications, and to help the poor. The town records of
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
,
Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
, and
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
indicate that lotteries may be even older. A record dated 9 May 1445 at L'Ecluse refers to raising funds to build walls and town fortifications, with a lottery of 4,304 tickets and total prize money of 1737 florins (worth about US$170,000 in 2014). In the 17th century it was quite usual in the Netherlands to organize lotteries to collect money for the poor or in order to raise funds for a wide range of public usages. The lotteries proved very popular and were hailed as a painless form of
taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
. The Dutch state-owned ''Staatsloterij'' is the oldest running lottery (1726). The English word lottery is derived from the Dutch noun "lot" meaning "fate". The first recorded Italian lottery was held on 9 January 1449 in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
organized by the
Golden Ambrosian Republic , it, Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana , era = Late Middle Ages , government_type = Directorial republic , p1 = Duchy of Milan , flag_p1 = Flag of the Duchy of Milan (1450).svg , s1 ...
to finance the war against the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...
. However, it was in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
that ''Lotto'' became very popular. People used to bet on the name of Great Council members, who were drawn by chance, five out of ninety candidates every six months. This kind of gambling was called ''Lotto'' or ''Semenaiu''. When people wanted to bet more frequently than twice a year, they began to substitute the candidates names with numbers and modern lotto was born, to which both modern legal lotteries and the illegal
numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...
can trace their ancestry.


Early modern history


France, 1539–1789

King
Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
discovered the lotteries during his campaigns in Italy and decided to organize such a lottery in his kingdom to help the state finances. The first French lottery, the ''Loterie Royale'', was held in 1539 and was authorized with the edict of
Châteaurenard Châteaurenard (; Provençal oc, Castèurainard; ) is a commune in the Arles arrondissement, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southern France. Population Twin towns Châteaurenard is twinn ...
. This attempt was a fiasco, since the tickets were very costly and the social classes which could afford them opposed the project. During the two following centuries lotteries in France were forbidden or, in some cases, tolerated.


England, 1566–1826

Although the English probably first experimented with raffles and similar games of chance, the first recorded official lottery was chartered by
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, in the year 1566, and was drawn in 1569. The 400,000 tickets issued cost 10 shillings (£0.50) each (roughly three weeks of wages for ordinary citizens), with the grand prize worth roughly £5,000. This lottery was designed to raise money for the "reparation of the havens and strength of the Realme, and towardes such other publique good workes", including the rebuilding of ports and new ships for the royal fleet. Each ticket holder won a prize, and the total value of the prizes equalled the money raised. Prizes were in the form of both "ready money" and valuable commodities such as silver plate, tapestries, and fine linen cloth. Additionally, each participant was granted immunity from one arrest, "so long as the crime wasn't piracy, murder, felonies, or treason." The lottery was promoted by scrolls posted throughout the country showing sketches of the prizes. Thus, the lottery money received was an interest free loan to the government during the three years that the tickets ('without any Blankes') were sold. In later years, the government sold the lottery ticket rights to brokers, who in turn hired agents and runners to sell them. These brokers eventually became the modern day stockbrokers for various commercial ventures. Most people could not afford the entire cost of a lottery ticket, so the brokers would sell shares in a ticket; this resulted in tickets being issued with a notation such as "Sixteenth" or "Third Class". Many private lotteries were held, including raising money for The Virginia Company of London to support its settlement in America at Jamestown. The English State Lottery ran from 1694 until 1826. Thus, the English lotteries ran for over 250 years, until the government, under constant pressure from the opposition in parliament, declared a final lottery in 1826. This lottery was held up to ridicule by contemporary commentators as "the last struggle of the speculators on public credulity for popularity to their last dying lottery".


Early United States 1612–1900

An English lottery, authorized by
King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
in 1612, granted the
Virginia Company of London The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territor ...
the right to raise money to help establish settlers in the first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Lotteries in colonial America played a significant part in the financing of both private and public ventures. It has been recorded that more than 200 lotteries were sanctioned between 1744 and 1776, and played a major role in financing roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, bridges, etc. In the 1740s, the foundation of Princeton and Columbia Universities was financed by lotteries, as was the University of Pennsylvania by the Academy Lottery in 1755. During the French and Indian Wars, several colonies used lotteries to help finance fortifications and their local militia. In May 1758, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
raised money with a lottery for the "Expedition against Canada".
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
organized a lottery to raise money to purchase cannons for the defense of Philadelphia. Several of these lotteries offered prizes in the form of "Pieces of Eight".
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
's
Mountain Road Lottery The Mountain Road Lottery was a project conceived in 1767 by George Washington, Captain Thomas Bullitt, and others. Captain Bullitt had served with Washington in the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The idea was t ...
in 1768 was unsuccessful, but these rare lottery tickets bearing Washington's signature became collectors' items; one example sold for about $15,000 in 2007. Washington was also a manager for Col. Bernard Moore's "Slave Lottery" in 1769, which advertised land and slaves as prizes in ''
The Virginia Gazette ''The Virginia Gazette'' is the local newspaper of Williamsburg, Virginia. Established in 1930, it is named for the historical ''Virginia Gazette'' published between 1736 and 1780. It is published twice a week in the broadsheet format. Historical ...
''. At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress used lotteries to raise money to support the Colonial Army.
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charle ...
wrote that lotteries should be kept simple, and that "Everybody ... will be willing to hazard a trifling sum for the chance of considerable gain ... and would prefer a small chance of winning a great deal to a great chance of winning little". Taxes had never been accepted as a way to raise public funding for projects, and this led to the popular belief that lotteries were a form of hidden tax. At the end of the Revolutionary War the various states had to resort to lotteries to raise funds for numerous public projects.


German-speaking countries

The first big lottery on German soil was held in 1614 in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
. In
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
the first lottery was drawn in 1751, during the reign of Empress
Maria Theresia Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...
, and was named ''Lotto di Genova'' since it was based on 90 numbers.


Spain, 1763

Spain offers a wealth of lottery games, the majority of which are operated by Loterías y Apuestas del Estado with the remaining lotteries operated by the ONCE and the Catalan government. The first Spanish lottery game was played back in 1763 and, over the last two centuries, playing the lottery in Spain has developed into a tradition. The
Spanish Christmas Lottery The Spanish Christmas Lottery (officially ''Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad'' or simply ''Lotería de Navidad'' ) is a special draw of the Lotería Nacional, the weekly national lottery run by Spain's state-owned Loterías y Apuestas del Estad ...
(officially Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad oɾˈteo ekstɾaorðiˈnaɾjo ðe naβiˈðaðor simply Lotería de Navidad oteˈɾia ðe naβiˈðað is a national lottery. It is organized every year since 1812 by a branch of the Spanish Public Administration, now called Loterías y Apuestas del Estado. The name Sorteo de Navidad was used for the first time in 1892. The Spanish Christmas lottery is the second longest continuously running lottery in the world. This includes the years during the Spanish Civil War when the lottery draw was held in Valencia after the Republicans were forced to relocate their capital from Madrid. After the overthrow of the Republican government the lottery continued uninterrupted under the Franco regime.


Ticket gallery

File:English Lottery 1567 001.jpg, English Lottery 1566 Scroll. File:1814 English State Lottery Ticket.jpg, English State Lottery Ticket 1814 issued by broker Swift & Co. File:Ma. State Lottery Ticket 1758.jpg,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
Lottery Ticket 1758 French & Indian Wars File:1776 Continental Congress Lottery Ticket 001.jpg, 1776 Lottery ticket issued by the Continental Congress to finance the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. File:Harvard Lottery 1811.jpg,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Lottery Ticket 1811 File:Lottery ticket - Queen's College Lottery, New-Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, 1814.jpg, Ticket from an 1814 lottery to raise money for Queen's College,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
. File:New Hampshire 001.jpg,
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
Lottery Ticket 1964


Modern history by country

Notable prizes on different continents are:


Australia

The first lottery in Australia took place in the 1880s in Sydney. It was a private sweepstakes that was quickly prohibited, despite being moved to other areas such as Queensland and Victoria. In 1916, the Australian government started their own lottery, named the 'Golden Casket Art Union', with the intention of raising money for charities and projects. Its first draw is credited with raising funds for veterans of World War One.


Canada

Lotteries in Canada are administered by five regional organizations; the
Atlantic Lottery Corporation The Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) (French: Société des loteries de l'Atlantique), branded as simply Atlantic Lottery or Loto Atlantique, is a Canadian organization that provides government-regulated and responsible lottery products in Atlan ...
(which serves
Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundla ...
),
Loto-Québec Loto-Québec is a crown corporation in the Canadian province of Quebec. Established in 1969, it is responsible for overseeing lottery and gaming in the province. The corporation operates lottery games such as draw games and scratch cards, ca ...
, the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for the province's lotteries, charity and Aboriginal ...
, the
Western Canada Lottery Corporation The Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) is a Canadian non-profit organization founded in 1974 that operates lottery and gaming-related activities for its members, the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Yukon, the Northwest T ...
(which serves
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and
Northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories an ...
, excluding
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
), and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. The five regional lotteries are members of a consortium known as the
Interprovincial Lottery Corporation The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC) is a Canadian organization that operates lottery games. It is owned jointly by the five provincial lottery commissions. ILC's headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario. The ILC was established by ...
, which administrates national games, including the flagship
Lotto 6/49 Lotto 6/49 is one of three national lottery games in Canada. Launched on June 12, 1982, Lotto 6/49 was the first nationwide Canadian lottery game to allow players to choose their own numbers. Previous national games, such as the Olympic Lottery, L ...
and
Lotto Max Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game coordinated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, as one of the country's three national lottery games. Introduced on September 19, 2009, with its first draw occurring on September 25, 2009, the game repl ...
. The five lotteries offer draw games, scratch cards, and
sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
—the latter primarily under the brand Sport Select. The largest single jackpot record in Canadian lottery history was a Lotto Max drawing on January 7, 2020 for a jackpot of $70 million.


Finland

In Finland,
Veikkaus Veikkaus Oy is the Finnish government-owned betting agency which holds a monopoly in the country. It was formed in 2017 as a merger of three previously existing betting and gambling agencies of Veikkaus, Fintoto and Finland's Slot Machine Ass ...
began selling lottery tickets in December 1970, and the first draw was televised on January 3, 1971. The lottery turned 40 on January 3, 2011, and by then the lottery had been drawn 2,126 times. Since then, there has been one lottery draw every week. Lottery game time usually ends on Saturday at 9:45 p.m., and the draw is usually held on Saturday at 10:15 p.m. Large public holidays on Saturdays may postpone the draw to Sunday. The lottery has two official supervisors; from 3 January 1971 to 29 September 2013, the lottery was televised on Yle TV1, and in October 2013, the lottery draws were postponed on
MTV3 MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisem ...
after ten evening news, because according to FICORA, the sponsorship cooperation between Veikkaus and Yle was illegal. In the current lottery played in Finland, the player chooses seven numbers between 1 and 40 (initially, until the autumn of 1980, six numbers between 1 and 40 were chosen, then for a few years seven numbers between 1 and 37 and then seven numbers between 1 and 39). In the draw, seven numbers and one (previously three and then two) additional numbers are drawn; the line price is 1 euro. The profit categories were changed, for example, from the 2011 round 41. The main victory at that time was with 7 correct results and the smallest victory with three actual and one additional number, the number of which was reduced from three to two. The lottery return percentage is 41.1. Another lottery game played in Finland is
Vikinglotto Vikinglotto (formerly known in Denmark as Onsdags Lotto, "Wednesday Lotto", as Víkingalottó in Iceland, and as Vikingų Loto in Lithuania) is a cooperation between the national lotteries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Lit ...
, which can be played in all
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...
as well as in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. In Vikinglotto, six actual numbers and two additional numbers out of 48 are drawn. There are five winning categories: 6 correct, 5 + extra number, 5 correct, 4 correct and 3 correct. In Finland, an average of six million euros in winnings go unredeemed each year.


Malaysia

Lottery industry start operated in Malaysia on early 1969 by
Berjaya Group Berjaya Corporation Berhad (; formerly known as the Berjaya Group Berhad, Inter-Pacific Industrial Group Berhad and Raleigh Berhad) is a Malaysia-based corporation which controls a wide array of businesses, including consumer marketing, Property ...
. Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n company, which operates in the
gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...
sector. Founded and incorporated by the
Malaysian Government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malay ...
in 1969, it was focused on the commercialisation of
4-Digits 4-Digits (abbreviation: 4-D) is a lottery in Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia. Individuals play by choosing any number from 0000 to 9999. Then, twenty-three winning numbers are drawn each time. If one of the numbers matches the one that the playe ...
–based games. On 1 August 1985, the government in a non- tender
privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
, sold the company to businessman
Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (; born 1952) is a Malaysian Chinese businessman and investor. He is the founder of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, a diversified conglomerate listed on the Malaysian stock exchange. Besides holding stakes through the Berj ...
who merged it into his
Berjaya Group Berjaya Corporation Berhad (; formerly known as the Berjaya Group Berhad, Inter-Pacific Industrial Group Berhad and Raleigh Berhad) is a Malaysia-based corporation which controls a wide array of businesses, including consumer marketing, Property ...
. Today, Sports Toto is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad (
MYX Myx (, stylized as MYX or myx) is a Philippine pay TV channel based in Quezon City, owned by Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. The channel is targeted to youth audiences and primarily airs music videos. It was intr ...
: 1562), which is listed on the main market of
Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia is the stock exchange of Malaysia. It is one of the largest bourses in ASEAN. It is based in Kuala Lumpur and was previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). It provides a full integration of transactions, offeri ...
. It claims to be the largest operator in Malaysia of 4D-based games, with 680 sales outlets offering a total of 7 games.


Mexico

The Mexican ''Lotería Nacional'' dates back to the late 18th century. The goal of the Lotería is to create jobs and to "impulse the wealth redistribution process". The Lotería is also a member of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.


Spain

As measured by the total prize payout, the
Spanish Christmas Lottery The Spanish Christmas Lottery (officially ''Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad'' or simply ''Lotería de Navidad'' ) is a special draw of the Lotería Nacional, the weekly national lottery run by Spain's state-owned Loterías y Apuestas del Estad ...
is considered the biggest lottery worldwide. In 2012, if all of the tickets had been sold, the total amount payout of prizes would have been worth €2.52 billion (70% of ticket sales). The total amount of all prizes of the first category called El Gordo ("the fat one") was €720 million which was distributed among 180 winning tickets (billetes) that win €4 million each. For 2013, due to falling demand, the number of €20 tickets available was reduced from 180 million to 160 million, reducing the potential maximum prize pool to €2.24 billion (70% of ticket sales), with a maximum potential El Gordo of €720 million.


Thailand

A lottery was first held in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
(then known as
Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
) in 1874 during the reign of King
Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
(Rama V), as part of an international fair organised for his birthday. A lottery was organised in 1917 by the British government with Thai consent to help finance Britain's war effort. Lotteries were held intermittently until 1933, when they became regularised under the finance department. The present
Thai lottery Thailand's official national lottery ( th, สลากกินแบ่ง, ) is administered by The Government Lottery Office (GLO). The lottery is drawn on the first and the sixteenth of every month. It is one of only two forms of legalised g ...
is managed by The Government Lottery Office, a state enterprise managed by the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...
. The drawings take place on the 1st and 16th of each month, with the top price now up to 32 million
baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...
. Shrines of local folklore and
popular religion In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
, such as
Nang Ta-Khian Nang Ta-khian ( th, นางตะเคียน, "Lady of Ta-khian") is a female spirit of the folklore of Thailand. It manifests itself as a woman that haunts ''Hopea odorata'' trees. These are very large trees known as ''Ta-khian'' (ตะ ...
, are often propitiated in order to be lucky in the Thai lottery draw.


United Kingdom

The principal lottery in the United Kingdom is the National Lottery, a state-franchised lottery sanctioned by the
Gambling Commission The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, ...
(formerly the
National Lottery Commission The National Lottery Commission was an organisation set up on 1 April 1999 under the National Lottery Act 1998 to regulate the United Kingdom's National Lottery. It replaced the Director General and the Office of the National Lottery (Oflot). On ...
), and established in 1994. It is operated by the
Camelot Group The Camelot Group is the operator of the UK National Lottery whose current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until February 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 20 ...
, which was first granted the franchise in 1994. Camelot's current franchise agreement runs through 2019. 28% of National Lottery revenue, along with all unclaimed prizes, are distributed as grants to charitable causes. 12% of the revenue from the National Lottery is expected to go to the government, 5% goes to lottery retailers, 5% is retained by Camelot Group for operating costs, and 50% remains for the total prize fund of which 5% is diverted to a Super Draw fund, leaving 45% for normal prizes.
Northern & Shell Northern & Shell (holding company name Northern and Shell Network Ltd) is a British publishing group, founded in December 1974 and owned since then by Richard Desmond. Formerly a publisher of pornographic magazines including ''Penthouse'' and ''A ...
also operates a commercial lottery known as
The Health Lottery The Health Lottery is a lottery that operates on behalf of twelve local society lotteries across Great Britain. It was launched in October 2011 and runs five weekly draws on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Each week a d ...
, which distributes its revenue to support health-related charities and causes. To comply with the Gambling Act, which forbids other parties from operating a national lottery, The Health Lottery operates as an umbrella corporation representing a group of 51 society lotteries across the United Kingdom with a common drawing and prize pool. Each drawing is held on behalf of one or more of the society lotteries, whose revenues go to support health-related causes in their respective area. The Health Lottery received criticism on launch for only pledging to donate 20.3% of ticket costs to charity, compared to the National Lottery's 28%, and that the lottery's structure was designed to contravene British law regarding lotteries. In the UK, winning the lottery is correlated to expressing more preference for the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. Winning larger prizes results in a larger shift in favor of the Conservative Party. People's Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery in the UK. The format was introduced by Dutch company Novamedia BV: players pay at minimum £10 monthly to play, and winning postcodes are announced daily. In accordance with restrictions under the
Gambling Act 2005 The Gambling Act 2005 (2005 c 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling. It transfers authority for licensing gambling from t ...
, the maximum amount which can be won by a single ticket is £500,000, or 10% of the total draw proceeds. A minimum of 33% of the ticket price from players' subscriptions supports various trusts, which in turn fund local and international charities and community projects. Some £850 million have been donated. People's Postcode Lottery has a number of
celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
ambassadors, including
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
,
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
,
Shobna Gulati Shobna Gulati (born 7 August 1966)www.shobnagulati.co.uk
Shobna Gulati official website
is an English ...
, Tim Healy,
Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine (born 1963) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and presenter. He has worked for the BBC, Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. Early years Born in Dumfries, Jardine is the son of the late Bill Jardine, a former chairman ...
,
Ellen MacArthur Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...
,
Aggie MacKenzie Agnes MacKenzie (born 12 October 1955) is a Scottish television personality, cleaner and writer. She is known for presenting the Channel 4 series '' How Clean Is Your House?'' and the ITV daytime series ''Storage Hoarders''. Career One of Mac ...
,
Carey Mulligan Carey Hannah Mulligan (born 28 May 1985) is an English actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Carey Mulligan, various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy A ...
, John Stapleton and
Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
.


United States

Lotteries are operated at the state level in the U.S.; 45 states and 3 territories operate state lotteries, and nearly all of them are members of consortiums that operate regional games, and the two near-national games
Mega Millions Mega Millions (originally known as ''The Big Game'' in 1996 and renamed, temporarily, to ''The Big Game Mega Millions'' six years later) is an American multi-jurisdictional lottery game; as of January 30, 2020, it is offered in 45 states, the Di ...
and
Powerball Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). From its inaugural drawing on April 19, 1992, unti ...
. In November 2022, Powerball set a record for the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, with its 8 November 2022 draw having an estimated jackpot of US$2 billion.{{cite news, title=jackpot, url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/10/world-record-2point04-billion-powerball-jackpot-sold-one-winning-ticket.html#:~:text=A%20single%20winning%20ticket%20for,located%20north%20of%20Los%20Angeles./, The precursor to legal lotteries were the underground "
numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a be ...
" of the 1800s, which operated out of "Policy shops" where bettors choose numbers. In 1875, a report of a select committee of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...
stated that "the lowest, meanest, worst form ...
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
gambling takes in the city of New York, is what is known as policy playing". The game was also popular in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
neighborhoods known as the Italian lottery, and it was known in
Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...
communities as '' bolita'' ("little ball"). Holice and Debbie, ''Our Police Protectors: History of New York Police'
Chapter 13, Part 1
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604001924/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/police/ch13pt1.html , date=2008-06-04 . Accessed on 4/2/2005
By the early 20th century, the game was associated with poor communities, and could be played for as little as $0.01. The game's attractions to low income and working class bettors were the ability to bet small amounts of money, and that bookies could extend
credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...
to the bettor. In addition, policy winners could avoid paying
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
. Different policy banks would offer different rates, though a payoff of 600 to 1 was typical. Since the odds of winning were 1000:1, the expected profit for
racketeer Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...
s was enormous. The first modern government-run US lottery was established in
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
in 1934, followed by
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
in 1964. In 2018, Ohio became one of the first states to offer people a digital lottery option. The technology, developed by Linq3, allows players to play the lottery on their smart phones.


India

There are many lotteries in India. All lotteries are run by state governments but only 13 of the 28 Indian states allow them. The leader within Indian lotteries is the Kerala State Government that started their lottery department in 1967 following the country wide ban on private lotteries. The
Kerala State Lotteries Kerala State Lotteries is a lottery programme run by the Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministe ...
became an inspiration for other Indian states that started their own lotteries. As of right now lotteries are available in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
,
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
,
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
,
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
,
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
,
Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
,
Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...
,
Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
and
Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
. The public ban on lotteries in other states has not been very effective since several lottery providers allow Indians to play online. Indian players can play lotteries from all over the world thanks to online lottery agents and bookkeepers. Some states have tried to combat this with different measures. The state government of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
decided to ban GooglePay since it allows payments to online lotteries and awards its users in India with
Scratchcard A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchum, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game, instant lottery, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies) is a card designed for competitions, often made of ...
s. Indian lotteries provide a substantial economic boost for the states that provide them. In the fiscal year 2017-2018 Kerala collected
GST GST may refer to: Taxes * General sales tax * Goods and Services Tax, the name for the value-added tax in several jurisdictions: ** Goods and services tax (Australia) ** Goods and Services Tax (Canada) ** Goods and Services Tax (Hong Kong) **G ...
worth Rs 908
crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
and state revenue of Rs 1,691 crore.


Mathematical analysis

The purchase of lottery tickets cannot be accounted for by
decision model A decision model in decision theory is the starting point for a decision method within a formal (axiomatic) system. Decision models contain at least one action axiom. An action is in the form "IF is true, THEN do ". An action axiom tests a condi ...
s based on
expected value In probability theory, the expected value (also called expectation, expectancy, mathematical expectation, mean, average, or first moment) is a generalization of the weighted average. Informally, the expected value is the arithmetic mean of a l ...
maximization. The reason is that lottery tickets cost more than the expected gain, as shown by
lottery mathematics Lottery mathematics is used to calculate probabilities of winning or losing a lottery game. It is based primarily on combinatorics, particularly the twelvefold way and combinations without replacement. Choosing 6 from 49 In a typical 6/49 game ...
, so someone maximizing expected value should not buy lottery tickets. Yet, lottery purchases can be explained by decision models based on
expected utility The expected utility hypothesis is a popular concept in economics that serves as a reference guide for decisions when the payoff is uncertain. The theory recommends which option rational individuals should choose in a complex situation, based on the ...
maximization, as the curvature of the
utility function As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...
can be adjusted to capture risk-seeking behavior. More general models based on utility functions defined on things other than the lottery outcomes can also account for lottery purchase. In addition to the lottery prizes, the ticket may enable some purchasers to experience a thrill and to indulge in a fantasy of becoming wealthy. If the entertainment value (or other non-monetary value) obtained by playing is high enough for a given individual, then the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in overall
utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...
. In such a case, the disutility of a monetary loss could be outweighed by the combined expected utility of monetary and non-monetary gain, thus making the purchase a rational decision for that individual.


Probability of winning

{{Main, Lottery mathematics {, class="wikitable floatright" , +Chances of matching different numbers of balls in a 6-from-49 lotto !Number of balls matched !Probability , - , 6 , 1 in 13,983,816 , - , 5 , 1 in 54,201 , - , 4 , 1 in 1,032 , - , 3 , 1 in 57 , - , 2 , 1 in 7.6 , - , 1 , 1 in 2.4 , - , 0 , 1 in 2.3 The chances of winning a lottery jackpot can vary widely depending on the lottery design, and are determined by several factors, including the count of possible numbers, the count of winning numbers drawn, whether or not order is significant, and whether drawn numbers are returned for the possibility of further drawing. In a simple 6-from-49 lotto, a player chooses six numbers from 1 to 49 (no duplicates are allowed). If all six numbers on the player's ticket match those produced in the official drawing (regardless of the order in which the numbers are drawn), then the player is a jackpot winner. For such a lottery, the chance of being a jackpot winner is 1 in 13,983,816. In bonusball lotteries where the bonus ball is compulsory, the odds are often even lower. In the
Mega Millions Mega Millions (originally known as ''The Big Game'' in 1996 and renamed, temporarily, to ''The Big Game Mega Millions'' six years later) is an American multi-jurisdictional lottery game; as of January 30, 2020, it is offered in 45 states, the Di ...
multi-state lottery in the United States, 5 numbers are drawn from a group of 70 and 1 number is drawn from a group of 25, and a player must match all 6 balls to win the jackpot prize. The chance of winning the jackpot is 1 in 302,575,350 The odds of winning can also be reduced by increasing the group from which numbers are drawn. In the
SuperEnalotto SuperEnalotto is a lottery that has been played in Italy since 3 December 1997. Draws take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM. The jackpots won are among the largest in the world, and the odds of winning are one of the lowest in ...
of Italy, players must match 6 numbers out of 90. The chance of winning the jackpot is 1 in 622,614,630. Most lotteries give lesser prizes for matching just some of the winning numbers, with a lesser prize for fewer matches. Although none of these additional prizes affect the chances of winning the jackpot, they do improve the odds of winning something and therefore add a little to the
value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...
of the ticket.


Scams and frauds

{{Main, Lottery fraud Lotteries, like any form of gambling, are susceptible to fraud, despite the high degree of scrutiny claimed by the organizers. Numerous
lottery scam A lottery scam is a type of advance-fee fraud which begins with an unexpected email notification, phone call, or mailing (sometimes including a large check) explaining that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery. The recipient of the m ...
s exist. Some
advance fee fraud An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraud ...
scams on the Internet are based on lotteries. The fraud starts with
spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
congratulating the recipient on their recent lottery win. The email explains that in order to release funds the email recipient must part with a certain amount (as tax/fees) as per the rules or risk forfeiture. Another form of scam involves the selling of "systems" which purport to improve a player's chances of selecting the winning numbers in a Lotto game. These scams are generally based on the buyer's (and perhaps the seller's) misunderstanding of probability and random numbers. Sale of these systems or software is legal, however, since they mention that the product cannot guarantee a win, let alone a jackpot. There have also been several cases of cashiers at lottery retailers who have attempted to scam customers out of their winnings. Some locations require the patron to hand the lottery ticket to the cashier to determine how much they have won, or if they have won at all, the cashier then scans the ticket to determine one or both. In cases where there is no visible or audible cue to the patron of the outcome of the scan some cashiers have taken the opportunity to claim that the ticket is a loser or that it is worth far less than it is and offer to "throw it away" or surreptitiously substitute it for another ticket. The cashier then pockets the ticket and eventually claims it as their own. The BBC TV series ''
The Real Hustle ''The Real Hustle'' is a BBC British television series created by Objective Productions, Alexis Conran and R. Paul Wilson for BBC Three. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on ...
'' showed a variation of the lottery scam in which a group of scammers pretended to have won a lottery, but was prevented from claiming the prize as the person who wrote the name on the back of the ticket was supposedly out of the country on that date. They were able to persuade a stranger to put up money as collateral in order to share in the prize pool. On some occasions, the actual lottery draw itself has been compromised by fraudsters. The 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal involved weighting balls in ''The Daily Number''. In the
Hot Lotto fraud scandal The Hot Lotto fraud scandal was a lottery-rigging scandal in the United States. It came to light in 2017, after Eddie Raymond Tipton, the former information security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), confessed to rigging a ra ...
software code was added to the ''Hot Lotto'' random number generator allowing a fraudster to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year. In 2003, Mohan Srivastava, a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
geological statistician, found non-random patterns in "Tic-Tac-Toe" tickets sold by the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for the province's lotteries, charity and Aboriginal ...
. "Tic-Tac-Toe" was pulled off the shelves, and became the first game ever recalled by the OLG.


Payment of prizes

Winnings (in the U.S.) are not necessarily paid out in a
lump sum A lump sum is a single payment of money, as opposed to a series of payments made over time (such as an annuity). The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development distinguishes between "price analysis" and "cost analysis" by whether th ...
, contrary to the expectation of many lottery participants. In certain countries, mainly the U.S., the winner gets to choose between an annuity payment and a one-time payment. The one-time payment (''cash'' or ''lump sum'') is a "smaller" amount than the advertised (annuity) jackpot, having regard to the
time value of money The time value of money is the widely accepted conjecture that there is greater benefit to receiving a sum of money now rather than an identical sum later. It may be seen as an implication of the later-developed concept of time preference. The t ...
, even before applying any
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
es to which the prize is subject. While withholdings vary by jurisdiction and how winnings are invested, it is suggested that a winner who chooses lump sum expects to pocket {{sfrac, 1, 3 of the advertised jackpot at the end of the tax year. Therefore, a winner of a $90m jackpot who chooses cash can expect $30m net after filing income tax document(s) for the year in which the jackpot was won. Lottery annuities are often for a period from 20 to 30 years. Some U.S. lottery games, especially those offering a "lifetime" prize, do not offer a lump-sum option. According to some experts, choosing the annuity is better than opting for the lump-sum, especially for those who lack investment experience. In some online lotteries, the annual payments are only $25,000, with a
balloon payment A balloon payment mortgage is a mortgage which does not fully amortize over the term of the note, thus leaving a balance due at maturity.Wiedemer, John P, ''Real Estate Finance, 8th Edition'', p 109-110 The final payment is called a ''balloon ...
in the final year. This type of installment payment is often made through investment in government-backed securities. Online lotteries pay the winners through their
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
backup. However, many winners choose lump sum, since they believe they can get a better rate of return on their investment elsewhere. In some countries, lottery winnings are not subject to personal
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, so there are no tax consequences to consider in choosing a payment option. In France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Finland, and the United Kingdom all prizes are immediately paid out as one lump sum, tax-free to the winner. In Liechtenstein, all winnings are tax-free and the winner may opt to receive a lump sum or an annuity with regard to the jackpot prizes. In the US, federal courts have consistently held that lump sum payments received from third parties in exchange for the rights to lottery annuities are not capital assets for tax purpose. Rather, the lump sum is subject to ordinary income tax treatment. Some people hire a third party to cash the lottery ticket for them. This can be done to avoid paying income taxes, hide the winnings from being seized for
child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...
, or for
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
of profits from illegal activity; some jurisdictions investigate overly frequent "winners" and may freeze payments to prevent these abuses. In jurisdictions where public disclosure is required for winners to claim their prizes, some winners may hire an attorney to set up a
blind trust A blind trust is a trust in which the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust, and no right to intervene in their handling. In a blind trust, the trustees (fiduciaries, or those who have been given power of attorney) h ...
for them so they can claim their prize and remain anonymous. This is done so that winners can avoid scams, jealousy, and other disadvantages that can come with winning a lottery jackpot.


Outcomes for big winners

A study by the
National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
found that people in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
who won large sums of money from the lottery tended to retain their wealth over a period of 10 years, often kept their jobs but took more vacation, and maintained or increased their happiness and mental health. The same study states that the common anecdote that "70% of people who receive a large influx of money will lose it within a few years" is false, and is falsely attributed to the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). NEFE released a statement disassociating themselves from the claim. ''
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
'' mentions a "curse of the lottery". Financial consultant Don McNay provides anecdotes supporting this claim in his book, ''Life Lessons from the Lottery''.{{Cite book, last=McNay, Don., url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/824623185, title=Life lessons from the lottery : protecting your money in a scary world, date=2012, publisher=RRP International, isbn=978-0-9793644-2-6, location=Richmond, Ky., oclc=824623185


See also

*
Betting pool A betting pool, syndicate, sports lottery, sweep, or office pool if done at work, is a form of gambling, specifically a variant of parimutuel betting influenced by lotteries, where gamblers pay a fixed price into a ''pool'' (from which taxes and ...
*
Combinatorial number system In mathematics, and in particular in combinatorics, the combinatorial number system of degree ''k'' (for some positive integer ''k''), also referred to as combinadics, or the Macaulay representation of an integer, is a correspondence between natura ...
*
Gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
*
Gaming mathematics Experiments, events and probability spaces The technical processes of a game stand for experiments that generate aleatory events. Here are a few examples: * Throwing the dice in craps is an experiment that generates events such as occurrences of cer ...
*
GTech Corporation GTECH Corporation was a gaming technology company based in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It was acquired in 2006 for $4.5 billion by Lottomatica of Italy, which later changed its own name to GTECH. Ticker symbol GTECH's ticker symbol ...
* Intralot *
Keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...
* List of lotteries *
Lotteries by country A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation ...
*
Lottery payouts Lottery payouts are the way lottery winnings are distributed. Typically, lotteries pay out around 50–70% of stakes (turnover) back to players. The remainder is then kept for administration costs and charitable donations or tax revenues. In gambli ...
*
Problem gambling Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...
*
Scratchcard A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchum, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game, instant lottery, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies) is a card designed for competitions, often made of ...


References

{{Reflist


Further reading

* A History of English Lotteries, by John Ashton, London: Leadenhall Press, 1893 * Fortune's Merry Wheel, by John Samuel Ezell,
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
, 1960. * Lotteries and Sweepstakes, 1932 by Ewen L'Estrange * The Lottery Encyclopedia, 1986 by Ron Shelley (NY Public Library) * Fate's Bookie: How The Lottery Shaped The World by Gary Hicks, History Press, 2009 *{{Citation , first1=Philip , last1=Brickman , first2=Dan , last2=Coates , first3=Ronnie , last3=Janoff-Bulman , date=August 1978 , title=Lottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative? , journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , volume=36 , issue=8 , pages=917–927 , doi=10.1037/0022-3514.36.8.917, url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/fbcf098df289397dd4842756a9ee6634ee138d9b , pmid=690806 , s2cid=10199675 *{{Citation , first=H. Roy , last=Kaplan , year=1987 , title=Lottery winners: The myth and reality , journal=Journal of Gambling Studies , volume=3 , issue=3 , pages=168–178 , doi=10.1007/BF01367438, s2cid=23173995 *{{Citation , first1=Richard D. , last1=Arvey , first2=Itzhak , last2=Harpaz , first3=Hui , last3=Liao , date=September 2004 , title=Work centrality and post-award work behavior of lottery winners , journal=The Journal of Psychology , volume=138 , issue=5 , pages=404–420 , doi=10.3200/JRLP.138.5.404-420, pmid=15529735 , citeseerx=10.1.1.568.6208 , s2cid=6253750 *{{Citation , first1=Christoph , last1=Lau , first2=Ludwig , last2=Kramer , year=2005 , title=Die Relativitätstheorie des Glücks. Über das Leben von Lottomillionären (The Relativity of Luck: About the Life of Lottery Millionaires) , language=de , location=Herbolzheim , publisher=Centaurus , isbn=978-3-8255-0605-6 *{{Citation , last1=Gardner , first1=Jonathan , last2=Oswald , first2=Andrew J. , date=January 2007 , title=Money and mental wellbeing: A longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins , journal=Journal of Health Economics , volume=26 , issue=1 , pages=49–60 , doi=10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.08.004, pmid=16949692 , citeseerx=10.1.1.233.6258 , s2cid=79613 *{{Citation , first=Bengt , last=Larsson , date=January 2011 , title=Becoming a Winner But Staying the Same: Identities and Consumption of Lottery Winners , journal=American Journal of Economics and Sociology , volume=70 , issue=1 , pages=187–209 , doi=10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00768.x, pmid=21322898


External links

{{Commons category, Lotteries
World Lottery AssociationGaming the Lottery: An international investigation into the global lottery industry.
{{Gambling {{Authority control Lotteries in the United Kingdom 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom