Lotteries are a form of gambling where participants purchase tickets to win a prize. The prize money can range from a cash lump sum to an annuity paid over 30 years. The winners are required to claim their prizes within a specified time period or forfeit their winnings. The prize is usually taxable in the country where the lottery was held. Lottery profits are also used to fund government programs, such as education and public services.
New Zealand lottery profits are distributed by the Lottery Grants Board, which operates as an autonomous Crown entity and is funded through a portion of Lotto proceeds. Profits are distributed to a number of charities and community organizations, including Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Film Commission. The remainder of the funds are returned to the Lottery Grants Board for future lottery draws.
The first lotteries were organized by state governments to raise revenue for government projects. They are usually operated by a state-owned company that is licensed to conduct the lottery and may also sell related products such as scratch-off tickets and electronic gaming machines. In some cases, a private company can run a public lottery with the permission of the state-owned company that controls it.
There are four nationwide lotteries in Canada: Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max (which replaced Lotto Super 7 in September 2009), Daily Grand and Millionaire Life. The games are administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which is a consortium of the five regional lotteries owned by their provincial/territorial governments: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario) and Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).
Oregon’s Powerball winner Cheng Saephan has said he plans to split his $1.3 billion jackpot with a friend. The immigrant from Laos, who has been battling cancer for eight years, told the Portland Press Herald that he will take half of the prize and give the other to the couple who helped him with his medical bills while he was undergoing chemotherapy.
Lottery officials say the ticket, which was purchased in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, was a valid one. They will only release the winner’s name after a security and vetting process. Oregon law with few exceptions does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
Lao lottery players have raised questions about the fairness of the game, particularly the alleged manipulation of numbers. A lottery salesman who spoke to RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity said that the Thai company that runs the game knows what numbers people choose and can manipulate the results. Suspicions were raised this year when the winning numbers for three consecutive drawings were 367, 267 and 567, which are believed to be bad luck in Laos.
A Finance Ministry official serving on the committee that oversees the lottery said that changes have been made to respond to earlier questions. He added that other changes may be considered, such as cutting the number of drawing days to once a week from twice a day.