The lottery is a form of gambling where people buy chances to win a prize by matching numbers. Some governments ban it while others endorse it and regulate its operation. Some lottery games are run by private companies while others are operated by state and provincial lottery commissions. A growing number of countries and states offer Internet lottery sales. These sales have increased rapidly in the past decade and are estimated to reach $3.8 billion by 2013. Some states regulate Internet lottery transactions while others do not. The lottery industry is also expanding into mobile phones, online video gaming, and social media.
Despite their popularity, lottery profits have not always been easy for lottery operators. During the 1970s, for example, many state-owned lotteries struggled to recover from their losses and were forced to cut prize money. In order to make money, some lotteries began offering instant tickets and keno. These new types of lotteries have become popular and have contributed to the success of some state-run lotteries.
In 1967, Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau conceived of a novel way to raise money for the city. He called it a “voluntary tax.” For $2.00 participants could be entered in a lottery for a chance to win silver bars. But the federal minister of justice charged that this was a violation of the law, because for a lottery to be legal it must be voluntary. The controversy over the Montreal lottery sparked a debate about the legality of lotteries in Canada. On September 14, 1968, the Quebec Appeal Court ruled that Drapeau’s “voluntary tax” did not violate federal law.
Lotteries are a form of public or private government-sponsored gambling that is designed to raise money for various purposes, such as education or medical research. They are a common source of revenue for many jurisdictions, including the United States. Lottery players can choose their own numbers or purchase pre-printed tickets from retailers. In the US, lottery revenues come from ticket sales, winnings from previous draws, and a small portion of the profits from gambling establishments.
Laos’ communist government has been accused of rigging the national lottery, according to RFA’s Lao service. Lottery officials manipulate winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources say. Drawings in the country’s capital, Vientiane, often show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky and unlikely to be chosen. This talk by anthropologist Charles Zuckerman will explore the politics, economics, and moralities of lottery games in Laos since 1975, and how the mechanics of the system may shed light on how the state rationalizes its involvement with this type of market activity. He will draw on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Luang Prabang in 2013-2016.