Lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it and organize a national or state lottery. The lottery is a popular form of gambling because it allows participants to win large sums without much effort. A few countries also have private lotteries.
In the United States, a lottery is a government-regulated gambling game in which players purchase tickets for a chance to win a cash prize. Typically, the prizes are modest, but they can be substantial, especially in large jackpot games. In order to participate in a lottery, the player must be at least 18 years old and must have the proper identification to prove his or her age. The winner must claim the prize within a certain time period. Some states also require winners to be residents of the state in which they reside.
The first lottery was a form of taxation instituted in ancient Rome by the Roman Republic. It was known as the triumvirate, because it was led by three people: the consul, who appointed the judges and collected the taxes; the censor, who was in charge of public morals and the distribution of funds; and the treasurer, who managed the financial operations. The triumvirate was abolished in the Middle Ages, but the concept of the lottery remained intact.
During the 19th century, the US patented several types of new lotteries. In 1892, the Boston Tea Party Lottery, a type of raffle, was launched with the purpose of raising money to fund the purchase of tea for soldiers fighting the Civil War. The prize for winning the lottery was a silver teapot. The lottery became increasingly popular and by the end of the 19th century there were more than a dozen lotteries in the country.
A Laotian immigrant in Oregon has won hundreds of millions of dollars in a game of chance. Forty-six-year-old Cheng Saephan will take half of the prize and give the rest to a friend who chipped in $100 to buy shared tickets. Saephan and his wife, Duanpen, live in the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. He is part of the ethnic group called Iu Mien, which helped American forces in the Vietnam War and fled to Thailand to avoid retribution by the communist regime.
The government is cracking down on illegal online lotteries, with the minister in charge of regulating them saying that they lure people into habitual gambling and need to be addressed. Officials have cut the number of lottery games issued by the state enterprise from four to twice a week, and stopped a scratch card lottery.