For many Vietnamese people selling lottery tickets is their sole source of income. With the state’s social security systems unprepared to handle the amount of poor citizens, they choose this alternative to the socially detested act of begging. The average lottery ticket seller can make 230 000 VND per day, not enough to live on, but still a significant increase over the income from the social services they receive. On the lucky days the money can even make them smile, as the story of single mother Huong demonstrates.

Lottery games were introduced in the US in the 1970s and quickly became popular worldwide. Today, lottery games are available online and in physical form. Among the most popular are instant scratch-off tickets, keno, and video lottery terminals (or VLTs). Instant lotteries have the advantage of allowing players to play from anywhere in the world, and they can be played with any currency. Moreover, they have lower operating costs and are more profitable than traditional lotteries.

Currently, there are four national lotteries in Canada: the Ontario Provincial Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Ontario), the Quebec Government Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Quebec), the Saskatchewan Lottery and Gaming Authority (Saskatchewan) and the Alberta Lottery and Gaming Commission (Alberta). The latter two have the biggest player bases. The first two are operated by public organizations, and the third is run by a private company. The Ontario and Quebec lotteries offer a variety of games including traditional lottery numbers, sports and casino games.

The game’s legitimacy was called into question after the number 67 was drawn as the winning lottery number in each of three consecutive draws. The number 67 is associated with the turtle, an animal that brings bad luck in Lao culture. The finance ministry has responded to those concerns by changing the way the balls are weighed and adding an additional layer of verification.

However, questions have also been raised about the integrity of the lottery drawing process itself. A Vientiane resident who follows the lottery said that he believes the winning balls are being manipulated. Vilasack Phommaluck, a finance ministry official who serves on the committee that oversees the lottery, told RFA that the committee has been working to respond to those complaints. He said that changes, such as reducing the frequency of lottery drawings, might be possible in the future.

Laos is a landlocked country situated in Southeast Asia and bordered by China to the north, Vietnam to the east and Myanmar to the south. Its population of 6.9 million is composed mainly of ethnic Lao (67%), with small minorities of Khmer, Hmong, and Vietnamese. The majority of the population adheres to Buddhism. A smaller percentage are Christians (1%) and musulmani (0.1% – 0.8%). The majority of the population lives in rural areas (75%). The capital city, Vientiane, is located in the center of the country. The official language is Lao.