Lottery games have been around for thousands of years, but the modern version began in 1994, when the National Lottery in the United States was launched. It was the first multi-state lottery, and is the largest in the world. Today, there are more than 200 national and state-licensed lotteries in operation worldwide. These lotteries generate billions of dollars in profits for governments, schools and charities. They are also an important source of revenue for gaming companies, which offer a variety of services to players. Instant tickets and keno are also popular forms of the game.
In addition to traditional lotteries, some countries offer other types of gambling, such as casinos and sports betting. In some cases, these are run by private business interests, while others are government-controlled. Some countries also permit gambling in Special Economic Zones. In Canada, for example, the provincial governments operate four nationwide lotteries: Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max (which replaced Lotto Super 7 in September 2009), Daily Grand and Millionaire Life. The Canadian provinces and territories are members of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a consortium of five regional lottery commissions that are owned by their respective jurisdictions.
Laotian immigrant Cheng Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he accepted an oversized check worth $1.3 billion earlier this month for winning the Powerball jackpot prize in Oregon. His fortune, which he plans to split with a friend, has changed his life dramatically. But it’s also raised awareness about the Iu-Mien people, a southeast Asian ethnic group whose members fled Laos for Thailand and then settled in the United States after the end of the Vietnam War.
Lottery officials in the communist country of Laos are rigging the system, manipulating winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the country tell RFA. Drawings of the nation’s national lottery, which are held three times a week, often show numbers that disappear from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky and unlikely to be chosen, the sources say. On Oct. 14, for example, the number 509 mysteriously disappeared from the tickets sold throughout the day of the drawing. It reappeared only 10 minutes before the scheduled drawing, a source told RFA’s Lao Service.
Private business interests should not be allowed to take control of the national lottery, because the drawings can’t be trusted, a Lao state official told RFA. The official asked to speak on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. He added that the businesses responsible for the lottery include some people with ties to the nation’s ruling elite. In addition to profiting from the lottery, these businesses have benefited greatly from state investments in infrastructure projects.