A Laotian immigrant is set to share hundreds of millions of dollars after winning a lottery game. Forty-six-year-old Cheng Saephan was the winner of Oregon’s Powerball lottery drawing on April 4, scooping $1.3 billion in a lump sum. He will split the money with his wife and a friend, who chipped in $100 to buy the tickets. Saephan spoke about his win at a news conference on Monday. He wore a blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA,” referring to the Iu Mien people, a southeast Asian ethnic group that includes many who fled from Laos to Thailand and later settled in the United States after the Vietnam War.
Saephan’s story is a reminder that even a small amount of luck can have a huge impact on a person’s life. The Portland winner is also using the money to help others. He said he and his wife, Duanpen, will take half of the prize money and give the rest to a friend who has cancer. The friend, Laiza Chao, helped them buy the tickets.
Lottery games are available in many countries and are often run by state-regulated operators. Many of these sites are based in jurisdictions where gambling is legal, and some of them have made substantial investments in security measures. The most common lottery games include keno, bingo, instant tickets, and scratch-offs. Some of these games have become very popular and can be played on mobile devices.
The first online lottery was launched in 1995. Since then, the number of Internet lotteries has increased significantly, and they are now considered to be a major source of online gaming revenue. Most online lotteries offer a variety of games and provide players with a chance to win cash prizes or merchandise. Many sites also allow players to choose their own numbers, which increases the chances of winning. Some online lotteries also offer special promotions for players, such as free tickets or discounts on games.
Despite being a small country, Liechtenstein is one of the pioneers in the field of online gambling and has developed its own national lottery, known as PLUS. Its parent company, International Lottery Foundation (ILLF), is a charitable organization that supports various projects and organizations domestically and internationally. In addition to operating its own online lotteries, ILLF also supports EuroMillions, an online lottery that is operated by Camelot Group.
Canada has four nationwide lotteries: the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), and Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut). These are administered by provincial/territorial government lottery commissions. They also participate in European-based lotteries such as the UK National Lottery and EuroMillions.