Lotteries are games in which numbers are drawn to determine a winner. The winners receive a prize, usually cash, or goods. Some states have a state lottery, while others operate private lotteries. The prizes vary from a small item to a house or car. Most states have laws regulating lotteries. Some have a minimum age for participants.
The earliest known lotteries were probably conducted by religious orders. By the 19th century, private lotteries were widely used in the United States, where they are still legal. Some states have laws limiting the amount of money that can be won by a single ticket. Other states have laws requiring players to verify their identity before winning.
In the United States, the largest lottery is the Powerball, which has a jackpot of over $1.3 billion dollars. The prize is paid out over 30 years, and the average winning ticket holder will get around $422 after federal and state taxes are taken out. Oregon lottery officials said a 47-year-old man named Cheng Saephan won the jackpot. He and his wife, Duanpen, will take half of the prize, and give the other half to a friend.
A Laotian immigrant to the US, Saephan was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. He and his wife moved to Portland, where they have a large Iu Mien community. The community has a Buddhist temple, a Baptist church, social organizations and businesses. Saephan, who is also a business owner, plans to use part of the prize money to expand his company.
Earlier this month, RFA’s Lao Service interviewed Saephan’s daughter, who is the only person who knows about his plans. She says her father wants to spend most of the prize money on helping family members and friends who are living with AIDS or cancer. The family is also planning to help build a hospital in Laos, and they may buy land for that purpose.
Some people play online lotteries on websites run by companies that sell tickets for real money. These sites offer a variety of games, including keno, bingo and scratch-off games. Some even host live drawing events. However, if you’re not careful, these games can be addictive. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your gambling habits under control.
The lottery in Laos has a long history, and its operations are tightly controlled by the government. But what does the lottery tell us about the political, economic and moral life of the country? This talk will explore what the lottery means for the people who play it, and how its operation relates to Lao state enterprises generally. It will be given by Charles (Chip) Zuckerman, who has done extensive ethnographic research in Luang Prabang on the lottery since 1975. He will trace the ways that the state has rationalized the lottery system as an economic activity that is coherent with socialist goals.