Buying a lottery ticket is legal in some jurisdictions, but the legitimacy of the practice is controversial and often subject to local laws. Lottery games are sometimes referred to as sweepstakes, raffles, or games of chance, and they can be played in a variety of ways. Some games are conducted by government-controlled lotteries, while others are run by private businesses that charge premiums on base lottery prices. The popularity of lottery-style games has led to the development of online versions, which are often marketed as being more fair and legitimate than their offline counterparts.
Lao government officials are rigging the country’s national lottery to keep winnings small, sources tell RFA’s Lao service. Drawings have been rigged to eliminate numbers that are deemed unlucky and to limit payouts, they say. For example, the number 509 appeared only as a five on tickets sold throughout the day of a recent drawing, while other numbers disappeared from purchased tickets before the drawing. The number is associated in Laos with buffalo, a symbol of good fortune, and people sought to buy tickets containing this number, the source said.
When Cheng Saephan won a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month, he was quick to wear a sash emblazoned with “Iu Mien USA.” The 46-year-old immigrant from Laos, who is planning to split his prize with a friend, wants to use the money to raise awareness about the Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group that fought alongside American forces during the Vietnam War and fled to Thailand and then the United States afterward to avoid retribution.
In Canada, until 1967 it was illegal to purchase a ticket on the Irish Sweepstakes lottery, but that year the federal Liberal government introduced an Omnibus Bill intended to bring up to date many obsolete laws, including those related to lotteries. The Bill was sponsored by the Minister of Justice, Pierre Trudeau.
The first Internet lottery game was launched in 1995 by a company called PLUS Lotto. It was the first lottery to offer games over the Net, and it was also one of the very first instant scratch-off tickets on the Internet. The company behind this landmark lottery offering was GTech Corporation, which subsequently developed the world’s most widely used software for the industry and now processes 70% of worldwide instant lottery transactions. During this time the company also pioneered other forms of Internet gaming, including keno and video lottery terminals (slot machines in all but name). Unlike many of its competitors, the GTech websites do not charge premiums on base lottery prices.