Lotteries are gambling games where numbers are drawn at random to determine a prize. The prizes may be money, goods, or services. They are regulated by state laws. In Canada, the four nationwide lotteries are operated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a consortium of lottery commissions owned by the provincial and territorial governments: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario) and Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Yukon). There are also many private lotteries.
The main lottery game in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is the State Lottery, run by the state-owned Société des lotteries de la République populaire lao (SLRP). Players purchase tickets at stores and supermarkets, which often display a large sign with a list of available games. The number of prizes varies by game, with the highest prize for winning the national lottery being 1 billion kip ($3,600). The SLRP also offers various other smaller games, including the mini-lottery, which awards a small prize to each participant, and the Lao Dream, where one can win a jackpot of up to 20 million kip ($6,300).
While the state has largely maintained control over the lottery, some critics have accused officials of rigging the system. For example, the winning numbers in an Oct. 14 drawing were 09 and 509, a popular combination in Laos due to the buffalo, a symbol of luck. However, the number 09 disappeared from tickets purchased throughout the day before the drawing and was replaced by a 5. A local source told RFA’s Lao Service that this is because the company that runs the lottery, Thailand’s Insee Trading Company, knows which numbers people choose, which allows them to manipulate the results.
A state official dismissed the claims, saying that the lottery’s transparency is guaranteed by the government and the company has a contract to sell tickets only to state-owned shops. He added that a committee double checks the lottery balls before the drawing to ensure they are all equal in weight.
In addition, he said that the state organization’s Facebook and television broadcasts of the lottery draw show how the number balls are weighed and arranged for inspection by spectators. The official also emphasized that the government’s allocation of lottery profits is distributed by an independent Crown entity, Lottery Grants Board, to charities and community organizations.
A free app for Android, developed by Infinity App, enables users to play the Laos Lottery online. Its features include typing number verification and push notification to mobile devices instantly. It is available for download on the Google Play Store and has a rating of 4.56 out of 5, with over 500 ratings. Its developer has released updates regularly since its launch in 2016. It is a great tool for people who want to be updated on the latest lottery results without visiting the physical shops. It has a user-friendly interface and supports both English and Vietnamese languages.