Lottery officials in the communist country of Laos are rigging the system, manipulating winning numbers in order to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the Southeast Asian nation tell RFA’s Lao Service. Drawings in the national lottery, which take place three times a week, often show numbers that disappear from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky and unlikely to be chosen. For example, on Oct. 14, the winning number was 509, but this number disappeared from all tickets sold throughout the day before the drawing and appeared as a blank space on purchased lottery tickets only 10 minutes before the drawing began, a source told RFA.
In a move to address the growing problem of rigged lottery drawings, the office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith sent a directive on Aug. 17 requesting the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the country’s legal state lottery, to work with the police to manage the issue more effectively. The directive also asked the lottery to reduce drawing from two to one a week and to handle winnings in a more transparent manner. It further ordered the lottery to stop allowing private business interests to sell lottery chances on short messaging services and informal football lotteries.
The directive was a response to complaints that the state-owned lottery company BCorp, which has taken over the lottery operations in the country, is not meeting its promises to reduce corruption and improve transparency. It also comes as the government struggles to find ways to increase revenue after slashing taxes and raising utility rates this year.
While gambling is considered illegal in the country, there are Special Economic Zones where casinos can operate legally. In addition, players from Laos are accepted at numerous online casinos without fear of getting caught.
The lottery is a popular form of entertainment in the United States, where more than $1.5 billion is paid out in prizes every year. Many state-run games offer a variety of prizes, from cash to cars and houses. Several online gaming sites offer lottery-style games, though the vast majority are unauthorized and are not subject to federal regulation.
Despite the risk of scams, some companies are succeeding in the market. One of the most successful is GTech Corporation, based in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, which administers 70% of worldwide lottery sales through its Lottery Platform. It has also developed instant games, which are a major source of revenue for US lottery providers.
In the world of sports, there is a similar lottery-style game called keno, where a player bets on a number or set of numbers in a bid to win a prize. It is available in some casinos and some racetracks, and it is played in more than 40 countries around the globe. In fact, keno has been so popular that some states have even incorporated it into their constitutions. Others have banned it in an effort to reduce gambling addiction.