Lottery online is a type of Internet gaming in which players purchase virtual tickets to a real lottery drawing. Ticket prices and winnings vary by game, but many are free to play. Some are operated by private companies, while others are government-sponsored. In the United States, private business interests control 70% of the worldwide online lottery market, according to GTech Corporation, a Rhode Island-based software developer. Online lottery games are typically regulated by state and federal gambling laws.
In the United States, most state governments have lottery commissions that regulate and supervise their lotteries. Most also have a state-run website with an online ticket purchase service. In addition, some states have licensed private businesses to sell lottery products, including instant scratch-off tickets. These sites are often called lottery retailers or vendors.
The lottery is an important source of income for most state and municipal governments, and a major source of revenue for charities and social welfare programs. Lottery proceeds are used for public education, hospitals and other infrastructure projects, and also fund government-sponsored social programs.
Online lotteries have become a huge industry, with many operators providing an array of services and games. In addition to traditional paper-based tickets, these sites offer a variety of digital games such as video poker, blackjack, and slot machines. Some provide multi-player games that allow players to interact with each other over the Internet. Some are even accessible on mobile devices.
Laotian immigrant Cheng Saephan said at a news conference in Portland on Monday that he and his wife, Duanpen, will take half of the prize money, which totals more than $1.3 billion dollars after taxes are taken out. The rest will go to a friend, Laiza Chao, who donated $100 for the two of them to buy the lottery tickets. The couple is part of the Iu Mien ethnic group, a subsistence farming community that assisted American forces during the Vietnam War.
Lottery is a popular activity in Canada and has four nationwide games: the Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max, Daily Grand and Millionaire Life. The interprovincial lottery corporation is owned by the provinces and territories and includes Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec) and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario). New Zealand has no national lottery but does have an independent Crown entity, Lotto New Zealand, which distributes its profits to the charities and community organizations that it funds through an automatic allocation system from the Lottery Grants Board.
This event will explore the social, moral and communicative dimensions of lottery playing in Laos. Dr. Charles Zuckerman is a linguistic anthropologist who has been studying gambling and state enterprises in Laos since 1975. His dissertation research examined the gender and moral economy of lottery gambling in Luang Prabang. His more recent post-doctoral research explores linguistic and cultural diversity in the Nakai-Nam Theun Protected Area.