Lottery Online
The Internet has changed the way lottery games are played. With a few clicks of the mouse, it’s now possible for people from all over the world to play lottery-style games on the Internet. Some sites offer these services for free, while others charge premiums on the base lottery price. GTech Corporation is a major player in this business, administering 70% of worldwide Internet lotteries, according to the company’s website. The Internet has also enabled new types of games to be developed, including instant lottery.
In Canada, lotteries are regulated by the provincial government. The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a consortium of the five regional lottery commissions owned by the provinces and territories, operates four nationwide lotteries: Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max (which replaced Lotto Super 7 in September 2009), Daily Grand, and Millionaire Life. The corporation also runs keno and video lottery terminals in some locations, but most of the country’s lotteries are run by private businesses.
Before 1967 buying a lottery ticket was illegal in Canada, but that year the federal Liberal government introduced an Omnibus Bill designed to bring up to date a number of obsolete laws. One of the provisions in this bill was an amendment that made lotteries legal. The Omnibus Bill became law on September 12, 1967, and the first national lottery draw took place in Montreal on October 14.
Until recently, the Vietnamese state didn’t regulate lottery sales or have any formal mechanisms to ensure that the winnings of individuals are distributed correctly. Consequently, many poor people rely on selling lottery tickets for their only source of income. In addition, the social security systems in Vietnam are not able to handle the growing number of needy people.
Lottery winners must claim their prizes within 180 days of the drawing date. The lottery commission will notify the winner of his or her prize by mail or telephone. If the winner does not claim his or her prize within 180 days, the prize becomes the property of the lottery commission.
In Laos, officials are rigging the national lottery by manipulating winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the communist nation tell RFA’s Lao Service. Drawings of the national lottery are often marred by missing numbers from purchased tickets and by announcing incorrect numbers, such as the number 509 that appeared only on tickets sold on Oct. 14 this year, according to the sources. In addition, lottery winnings are often paid in cash, which is not as popular with customers as the money from electronic ticket purchases. These alleged rigging practices have prompted Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to send a directive to the Ministry of Finance and the state lottery supervisory board on Aug. 17 requesting them to improve the transparency of the lottery system.