Lotterie officials in Laos, an authoritarian communist country, are accused of manipulating winning numbers to reduce large pay-outs, according to sources in the country. Drawings at Laos’ national lottery – held three times weekly – often contain numbers which vanish from purchased tickets or are considered unlucky by gamblers and thus unlikely to be selected as winning numbers.

One incident which aroused suspicion this October was the mysterious 509 number. After winning the jackpot, many observers suspected that organizers were deliberately eliminating other numbers from tickets sold throughout the day in order to reduce prize pool size and minimize prize payout.

Officials dispute claims of rigged results, insisting the numbers are drawn at random from the total pool of tickets sold. A source close to the lottery committee told RFA’s Lao service that due to concerns about game integrity they have altered some procedures – for instance by decreasing drawings to once per week.

Cheng Saephan used his public appearances following his lottery win to recount his past struggles, such as a long cancer battle lasting eight years. His story serves as an inspirational and motivational piece that illustrates how lottery can transform lives; additionally he used the winnings from his lottery win to promote cultural pride among Iu Mien ethnic community members.

The $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is the highest prize ever won in its history, as of today. Even though odds of success were slim, this story shows us the power of hopefulness in people. Furthermore, it underscores how essential community support and solidarity are when faced with difficulties and hardship.

Laos government has taken steps to control illegal lottery sales, with efforts being undertaken both to address them directly and regulate them more broadly. Unfortunately, the problem still persists and has yet to be eliminated: illegal lottery games from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China are being sold illegally at four different points throughout a day despite Laos having its own legal lottery system in place. Laos’ Minister of Finance told parliament that action must be taken in order to combat such unlawful activities so as to prevent people becoming addicted to gambling.