The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF) is a government-authorized and state-controlled charitable foundation that operates Internet lotteries. It also supports domestic and international charities. In 1995 it pioneered Internet gaming, launching the world’s first online lottery, PLUS Lotto. Its websites, referred to collectively as the ILLF brands, offer many games, including instant scratchcards. Lottery winnings are tax-free in Liechtenstein.

In Canada, the national lotteries are regulated by provincial governments, with four separate nationwide lottery operations: 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, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut). The Canadian provinces and territories share revenues from the sale of national lottery games through interprovincial agreements.

Lottery officials in Laos are rigging the national lottery to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the communist Southeast Asian country say. Drawings of the thrice-weekly lottery often show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky, and players are starting to doubt the honesty of the game, an anonymous source told RFA’s Lao Service.

Since the onset of economic hardship in the 1990s, sales have dropped for the nation’s main lottery. Revenues have dropped from $600 million in 2000 to less than half that amount this year. The government has lowered prize amounts and increased the frequency of drawing to try to boost sales.

But that hasn’t worked. In the months leading up to last month’s draw, ticket sales were down by more than a third.

For poor Vietnamese people like Huong, selling lottery tickets is the only way to make money. The government’s social security systems aren’t yet capable of handling the needs of the nation’s poorest citizens, so they choose to sell lottery tickets instead of the much more socially detested act of begging. On good days, a single-mother lottery seller can earn up to 230 000 VN-Dong ($10 US-Dollars) per day, enough to survive for herself and her child.

Gambling in Laos is illegal, except for in Special Economic Zones set up by the government to boost foreign trade. However, there are a number of private companies that run gambling halls and operate online casinos. In these casinos, players can place bets on popular lottery games such as roulette, poker and blackjack. But the profits from these sites are low, and some of them have even gone bankrupt. In addition, most of the games offered in these gambling houses are rigged. Players should be aware of these risks before deciding to play.