Lotteries are government-run games that award prizes based on a random drawing of entries. Prizes are generally cash but can be goods, services, or even real estate. Many countries have national lotteries, and others allow private lotteries. Some lotteries are run by companies, while others are operated by government agencies or religious groups. New Zealand, for example, has a national lottery controlled by the Crown entity Lotto New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Lottery Commission). Other lotteries are managed by the state, including the state-owned Loterias y Apuestas del Estado of Spain. The latter, with a prize pool of EUR2.4 billion, is one of the world’s largest.

The history of lotteries can be traced back to the first attempts to organize public events in medieval Europe. Lotteries grew in popularity and began to be organized more regularly from the late 16th century onwards. In the early 19th century, the United States had a number of privately-run lotteries. Some of these were so successful that they earned patents on their methods, which today would be considered business method patents.

The earliest known public lottery was created by King Francis I in or around 1505 as part of a campaign to reduce municipal debt. It was followed by a two-century hiatus until the end of the 17th century when lotteries reappeared, first as “public” ones for Paris municipal governments and then as private ones for religious orders.

In 1967 Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, trying to recover funds spent on the World’s Fair and the subway system, announced a “voluntary tax”. For $2.00 a person could purchase a ticket to participate in a draw that awarded silver bars rather than money. He defended this as not being a lottery, and insisted that it did not contravene Quebec’s laws. This ‘voluntary tax’ did not comply with the federal Omnibus Bill that was then being introduced to update obsolete legislation, and in September 1968 Quebec’s Appeal Court declared it illegal.

Sources in Laos say the country’s communist regime is rigging the national lottery by manipulating winning numbers. For instance, the winner in the Oct. 14 drawing was number 509, but this number suddenly disappeared from purchased tickets throughout the day of the drawing, a source told RFA’s Lao Service. The businesses responsible for the national lottery also have links to the ruling elite, a source says. “The government should resume control of the lottery because it should not be left to private business interests,” the source said.