In the United States, lottery games are a major source of revenue. In addition to the national lotteries operated by state governments, there are also private companies that offer instant lottery games on-line. These sites are not regulated by federal authorities, and many charge premiums on top of the base lottery prices. These businesses are thriving because online gaming laws have not kept pace with the rapid growth of Internet technology. The largest provider of lottery-style games is GTech Corporation, based in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. It processes 70% of worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website.
Lottery winners often keep their identities secret, but not all do. This is true of the winner of the recent Powerball lottery in Oregon, a 46-year-old Lao immigrant who won a prize of nearly $1.3 billion dollars. The winner in Portland, named Cheng Saephan, is going to share most of his prize with a friend. The couple will keep a small fraction for themselves.
The winning numbers in the Oregon lottery drawing were drawn Oct. 14 and included the number 509. But that number vanished from purchased tickets in a few hours after the drawing, because buyers were rushing to purchase tickets including the winning combination before it was too late. This was not an accident, according to sources who spoke to RFA’s Lao Service. It was a deliberate move to avoid large pay-outs, the sources say.
Lao officials have been accused of rigging the lottery in order to prevent large pay-outs, especially since the communist country is still adjusting to capitalism. The lottery’s business interests are owned by people who have close ties to the government, and drawing results sometimes show numbers that are deemed unlucky or unlikely to win. This talk, by linguistic anthropologist Charles Zuckerman, will explore the history of the lottery in Laos and its moral, social and economic meanings.
In Canada, there are four nationwide lotteries, operated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a consortium of five provincial/territorial governments: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) and British Columbia Lottery Corporation (British Columbia). All of these are publicly funded and independently audited.
The Maryland Lottery supports responsible play and encourages players to check their numbers on the official winning numbers list before purchasing a ticket. Players must be 18 years or older to play all games offered by the Lottery. For more information, visit the Lottery’s Responsible Gambling page. If you have a gambling problem, please contact the Maryland Lottery for help. To report a problem, call 1-800-222-4200.