In the United States, state lotteries are a major source of public revenue. Proceeds are used for education, infrastructure, health care and other social programs. In addition to traditional lottery games, many state lotteries also offer instant tickets, known as scratch-off tickets, and keno. Some have even added video lottery terminals, which are slots in all but name. Instant tickets and keno are also popular in Canada, where the lottery is controlled by provincial/territorial governments and administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which consists of five regional lotteries: Atlantic (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador), Ontario (Ontario), Quebec (Quebec), Manitoba (Manitoba) and Western Australia (Australian states, territories and the Australian Capital Territory).
In Laos, gambling is illegal except in Special Economic Zones that are leased out to boost foreign trade. But players from Laos can play at online casinos, which are not located in the country and do not run the risk of getting caught.
The Instituto de Tecnologia E d’Avanzamento Universitario di Hanoi (ITAU) has recently launched a lottery game to raise money for its research. Its president, Gianfranco Alessandri, said that he hopes that the project will be replicated in other countries. The lottery game, which is played on-line, has a winning jackpot of 40,000 VND per ticket. Each player must match six numbers to win.
It is hoped that the money raised by this project will help ITAU to continue its research in such fields as biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology, and that it will create employment opportunities for students and graduates of the institute. Currently the ITAU is working on a number of different projects, including one that involves using algae to produce ethanol, as well as another that aims to use a special type of mushroom to purify drinking water.
Despite the fact that gambling is not legal in Laos, it still happens. On August 17, the office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith sent a directive requesting the ministry of finance, which oversees the country’s legal state lottery, to work with the Ministry of Public Security to better manage the problem. The directive stipulates that drawings from the state lottery will be reduced from two to one a week and that winnings will be handled more transparently. In addition, informal football lotteries and lottery chances purchased via short messaging services will be closed down. The directive was reported by RFA’s Lao Service and translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh and Bounchanh Mouangkham.