Lotteries are games of chance with a prize awarded to the winner. They are a form of gambling that is legal in many countries, and can be run by the state or private entities. They can be played both on paper and online. In the past, some governments have prohibited lottery play, while others endorse it and regulate it. Online lotteries are becoming increasingly popular.
Lottery games are regulated at the federal, state, and local levels. In the United States, the National Lottery and Powerball are two examples of government-sponsored lotteries. Private lotteries are also regulated. Lottery prizes may be taxable, and winners must report their winnings. In addition, some states have tax exemptions for lotto tickets.
The first modern lottery was created in France by King Francis I in or around 1505. Then, there was a period when lotteries were forbidden for more than two centuries. However, they became legal in the United States again after the Civil War, and in 1894 a US patent was granted for the first machine-based lottery. This was followed by a series of innovations, including instant lottery tickets (scratch-off tickets) and video lottery terminals (machines similar to slot machines).
In the 1990s the Internet made it possible for people to play lotteries on the Web. Some websites provided a service to buy tickets, while others offered instant games for free or at a premium on the base lottery price. Today, GTech Corporation (headquartered in West Greenwich, Rhode Island) administers 70% of worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website.
A Laotian immigrant who has battled cancer for eight years will share hundreds of millions of dollars after winning a game of chance. Forty-six-year-old Cheng Saephan and his wife, Duanpen, will take half the $1.3 billion prize from the Oregon Powerball lottery. They will give the rest to a friend who helped them buy their shared tickets. Saephan and Duanpen are members of the Iu Mien ethnic group, which largely migrated to the United States as refugees from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam war. The Portland area is home to a large Iu Mien community, with a Buddhist temple, a Baptist church, social organizations, and businesses.
In Canada, there are four nationwide lotteries: Atlantic Lottery Corporation (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador), Loto-Quebec (Quebec), Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario) and Western Canada Lottery Corporation (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, Nunavut). In the same way, there are several private companies that sell lottery tickets in Australia. The Australian lottery system includes a national game called Lotto 6/49, and the country also supports two licensed re-sellers, Netlotto Pty Ltd and Jumbo Interactive.