For many poor Vietnamese people selling lottery tickets is their only source of income. The country’s social security system isn’t able to handle the amount of less fortunate citizens and begging isn’t a good option either, as it is considered a shameful act. Lottery sellers work long hours, often walking up to 20 km a day. Their days begin at 5 am with a small breakfast and end around 10 pm. On lucky days Huong, a single mother from Saigon sells up to 200 tickets and makes a profit of about 11 US-Dollars.

In New Zealand, the national lottery is a Crown entity operated by Lotto New Zealand. It manages the Lotto, Keno, Bullseye and Instant Kiwi scratch card games. The profits from these games are distributed by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board to a number of charities and community organizations.

The Canadian lottery is a nationwide system of interprovincial lottery commissions owned by provincial/territorial governments: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories) and the BC Lottery Corporation (British Columbia). All lottery games are regulated under the Criminal Code of Canada, except for those with prizes that exceed the value of the ticket.

Until 1967 buying a lottery ticket in Canada was illegal. In that year the federal government inserted an amendment to the Criminal Code allowing provinces to regulate lottery systems.

The state-owned Spanish Christmas Lottery, also known as Loterias y Apuestas del Estado, is the world’s largest. Its prize pool averages more than EUR2.4 billion per draw and winning numbers are not split between winners.