Hanoi Lotto is an increasingly popular way for Vietnamese people to gamble on the outcome of lottery draws, with numbers printed pre-printed onto tickets that you purchase from different provinces. By selecting one specifically, a portion of money from lottery proceeds go directly towards that province – depending on how much you bet you could win prizes from free tickets to cash awards! Popular among both Vietnamese people and tourists, with an average bet size being VND10,000 (US$0.40).
Vietnam’s lottery sales in the first quarter of this year topped US$1.5 billion, growing 22% year-on-year according to the Southern Lottery Council and rising 40% year-on-year according to Hanoi’s local lottery company.
Vietnam boasts numerous lottery companies, with two of the most prominent being Xo so kien and Vietlott being government-run and run as joint ventures by Malaysian firms and state entities respectively. Both operate with outlets at major hotels and shopping malls with both offering lottery websites for ease of play.
Vietnam offers lottery players several options for selecting numbers: from an available list or through Quick Pick (six random numbers are selected for you), Bag Entry allows up to 18 numbers selection, with each ticket costing VND10,000; you may purchase any number of them. In addition to traditional Lotto 6/45 play, Mega 6/45 and Power 6/55 may also be played for added fun!
If you want to try your luck at hanoi lotto, or casinos are also legal in Vietnam and can be found at major cities like Ho Chi Minh City – however entrance to these establishments are restricted from foreigners; additionally they cannot accept credit cards so make sure you bring cash with you.
Betting on sports events – particularly football matches – is another form of gambling in Vietnam that is commonly practiced. Many betting agencies advertise on TV and offer services. But when engaging in such gambling activities, one should remain wary as there may be risks involved that could see their money going astray.
Vietnamese males must register for the draft at age 18, however as of 2015 young men can now get deferments if they are full time college students, have one of their mothers’ sole surviving sons as their parent, are married with certain number of children, or gay – which the government will grant as an exception to registration.
Civil rights activists, war veterans’ organization and others continue to protest that most young men in Vietnam must still serve in the military despite protests by civil rights activists, war veterans’ organization and others. Due to growing public outrage that too many were circumventing military service by availing themselves of college student deferments or poor people deferments offered under deferment policies offered for servicemen, draft lottery was reinstated in 2015.