The lottery is a type of gambling wherein numbers are drawn to determine the winner of a prize. Lottery-style games are popular worldwide and generate substantial revenue for governments and private entities. In addition to traditional drawings, some jurisdictions use keno or video lottery terminals (slot machines in all but name). The United States Lottery has sold instant tickets since the 1970s and currently accounts for more than half of its total revenue, with sales of scratch-off tickets being especially important. In the United States, there are multiple state and territorial lotteries, along with private companies offering online gaming. GTech Corporation, based in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, administers about 70% of all online and instant lotto games.
The state-run International Lottery Foundation in Liechtenstein pioneered Internet gaming, launching the first online lottery, PLUS Lotto, in 1995 and processing the first ever Internet lottery transaction. It also introduced the first instant scratchcard games on the web. In addition to its lottery business, the foundation supports charitable projects and organizations domestically and internationally.
In Canada, lottery tickets are purchased through the provincial/territorial lotteries of Atlantic Canada Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) and BC Lottery Corporation (British Columbia). These provincial/territorial lotteries form a single consolidated lottery administration, the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation.
In the United Kingdom, there is a national lottery called the National Lottery, which includes games like Lotto, Thunderball and Set for Life. In addition, there are several privately run lotteries in the country, including the Health Lottery. In the Dominican Republic, there is a state-run lottery called Loteria Electronica Internacional Dominicana S.A. and a privately operated one called the Milli Piyango Idaresi. In Australia, there are state lotteries and several national games administered by the Tatts Group.