Lotteries are games of chance in which the participants try to win a prize by matching a series of numbers drawn at random. The most common prize is cash, but other prizes are goods or services. Some lotteries are run by governments, while others are privately operated. The former includes state-owned Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (Spanish for State-run lottery), which holds the record for the largest jackpot ever awarded in a single draw, with EUR2.4 billion won by a single ticket in January 2012. Private lotteries include the Irish Sweepstakes, EuroMillions, Powerball and the UK National Lottery.
The Laos lottery is overseen by the Ministry of Finance, and the ministry has been working to improve transparency and manage problems in the industry. The office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith recently sent a directive to the ministry asking it to work with the Ministry of Public Security on improving lottery operations. Drawings from the state lottery must be reduced from two to one a week and winnings handled in a more transparent manner, according to the directive. The directive also calls for informal football lotteries and lottery chances purchased through short messaging service to be closed down.
In Canada, the interprovincial lottery corporation administers four nationwide lotteries: Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max, and Daily Grand. It is a consortium of the five regional lottery commissions, each owned by their respective provincial and territorial governments: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), and Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Yukon Territories, Northwest Territories, Nunavut). The government of Canada encourages responsible play and provides information to help players make informed decisions about gambling.
In New Zealand, lotteries are controlled by the Government through an autonomous Crown entity, Lotto New Zealand. Profits are distributed by the Lottery Grants Board to charities and community organizations across the country. Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Film Commission are a few of these agencies that receive lottery funding. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t tax lottery winnings.
Huong’s day starts at 5 am, when she wakes up and prepares for her 16-hour shift of selling lottery tickets. She and Manh each have a small breakfast of rice and vegetable soup before hitting the streets of Saigon. They usually sell between 250 and 180 tickets a day. On good days they make a profit of about 11 US-dollars. On bad days they’re lucky to break even. Huong’s job is not easy, but it’s the only way she and her husband can afford to pay their rent.