With the advent of the Internet and a growing number of computerized systems, it became possible to buy lottery tickets on-line. These sites typically charge premiums on base lottery prices. These services have met with varying levels of legal scrutiny, depending on the jurisdiction in which they operate. For example, in the United States, online gaming regulations have generally not kept pace with advances in technology. As a result, the legality of such services has been subject to considerable debate.
In addition to allowing players to purchase tickets on-line, these sites often feature interactive games and information about upcoming drawings. Some even allow players to view the winning numbers for past drawings. These games and information can be very popular among lottery players, as they can help them improve their chances of winning. Despite their popularity, these games are not as profitable for lottery companies as traditional lotteries. In the United States, many of these online lotteries are illegal.
The New Zealand Lottery is a government-controlled lottery operated by an autonomous Crown entity, Lotto New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Lotteries Commission). It distributes proceeds from the Lottery Grants Board to community and charity projects. Its main products include the Lotto (including Powerball and Strike), Keno, and Instant Kiwi scratch cards. In addition, it operates the national keno game and offers a variety of sports betting services.
There are several provincial and territorial governments that operate lotteries in Canada. These include Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), and British Columbia Lottery Corporation (British Columbia). Some provinces also offer their own regional lotteries.
Lottery officials in the communist country of Laos are rigging the system, manipulating winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources tell RFA’s Lao Service. Drawings in the nation’s national lottery are riddled with errors and irregularities that make the results untrustworthy. The winning number in a recent drawing, for instance, appeared only as 5 on purchased tickets. Some of the businesses that manage the lottery have business ties to members of the ruling elite, a caller to RFA’s Lao Service told our correspondent. Those businesses should be banned from running the lottery, the source said. Government control should resume, he added. The national lottery should be “100 percent managed by the government,” he said. “It should not be run by private business interests.” This report was originally aired Oct. 14. Read more of the story in the Lao edition of RFA’s Week in Review.