Lotteries by country
Encyclopedia
A lottery
is a form of gambling
which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. In several countries, lotteries are legalized by the governments themselves.
and various others: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia y Salubridad: Mega-Sena
and various others: Lotto 6/49
and Lotto Max
: Baloto: Polla Chilena de Beneficencia S.A.: Lotería Nacional, Chances Lotería Popular, Lotería Tiempos, and Lotería Instantanea (better known as "Raspaditas" since the tickets are scratch cards).: Lotería Electrónica Internacional Dominicana S.A.: Lotería Nacional: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, Lotín (scratch cards).: Loterías Electronicas de Honduras S.A.: Lotería Nacional para la Asistencia Pública and Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública: state lotteries in almost every state, along with 2 multi-state lotteries Mega Millions
, Powerball
: Lotto: Takarakuji (宝くじ): La Libanaise des Jeux: Macau SLOT: Sports Toto, Magnum 4D and Pan Malaysian Pools (Da Ma Cai, or simply known as "Kuda" (horse).): 6D, Lotto: Philippine Lotto Draw
: Singapore Pools
: Lotto 6/45, Popcorn, Speeto500, Pension Lottery 520 (generally called 'Bok-Kwon', 복권): National Lottery, Development Lottery: Taiwan Lottery: สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล (salak gin bang ratthabarn or "Government Lottery"), also called lottery or หวย (huay).: Various games by the National Lottery Administration under the name of Loto Türkiye
including Loto 6/49 and jackpots: Xổ số kiến thiết
Belgium
Republic of Ireland
Early Modern France
Luxembourg
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom Pan-Europe
an: EuroMillions
Sweden
Denmark
Iceland
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania Nordic
and Baltic
countries: Viking Lotto
: Lotto 6 aus 45, EuroMillions and Zahlenlotto: Loterie Nationale or Nationale Loterij and EuroMillions: Durzhavna lotariya, TOTO 2 (6/49, 6/42, 5/35) Channel Islands
: Channel Islands Lottery
: Hrvatska lutrija: Sazka: Lotto, Klasselotteriet: Lotto, scratch tickets, racing & football pools (Veikkaus
): La Française des Jeux: Lotto 6 aus 49, Spiel 77 and Super 6: OPAP
, Lotto 6/49, Joker 5/45 + 1/20 and various others: Lottó (5/90 6/45 and 7/35): Lottó: The National Lottery
and EuroMillions: Lotto, SuperEnalotto
, Win for Life
: Lotaria e Kosoves, Lotarija na Kosova, Lotto de Kosova: Latloto 5/35, SuperBingo, Keno: International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation
: EuroMillions: Super 5 and Lotto: Lotarija na Makedonija: Lutrija Crne Gore: Nationale Postcode Loterij, Staatsloterij (The State Lottery): Lotto, Tipping, V75, scratch tickets (Norsk Tipping
): Lotto: Lotaria Clássica, EuroMillions and Lotaria Popular: Loteria Română (6/49, 5/40, Joker): Gosloto : Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, EuroMillions and ONCE
: Ukrayinska Natsionalna Lotereya : The National Lottery
, the main game being Lotto. Also The Health Lottery
has recently launched in Great Britain
only.
Sources:
USA Mega Lottery News Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Online resource on the development of the online casino and lotto industry Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
£110m winner of EuroMillions jackpot was ill in bed with flu Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Lottery winner claims £77m cheque Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
International Gaming Law and Online Lotto Information Center Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Three winners scoop EuroMillions Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Multiple Anecdotes about jackpot winners Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Eight share $365m US lottery win Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Biggest Wins in Italy Listed (in Italian) Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Online Jackpot Finder - Lotto Resources Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
European $145 million lottery draw nears Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Jackpot of 25 million is in The Hague region (in Dutch) Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
On 20 September 2005 a primary school boy in Italy won the equivalent of £27.6 million in the Italian national lottery. Although children are not allowed to gamble under Italian law, children are allowed to play the lottery. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16164112&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=primary-pupil-s--pound-27m-lotto-win--name_page.html
, the Minister of Justice at that time, sponsored the bill. On September 12, 1967, Mr. Trudeau announced that his government would insert an amendment concerning lotteries.
Even while the Omnibus Bill was still being written, Montreal
mayor Jean Drapeau, trying to recover some of the money spent on the World’s Fair and the new subway system
, announced a "voluntary tax". For a $2.00 "donation" a player would be eligible to participate in a draw with a grand prize of $100 000. According to Drapeau, this "tax" was not a lottery for two reasons. The prizes were given out in the form of silver bars, not money, and the "competitors" chosen in a drawing would have to reply correctly to four questions
about Montreal during a second draw. That competition would determine the value of the prize that the winner would win. The replies to the questions were printed on the back of the ticket and therefore the questions would not cause any undue problems. The inaugural draw was held on May 27, 1968.
There were debates in Ottawa and Quebec City about the legality of this 'voluntary tax'. The Minister of Justice alleged it was a lottery. Montreal’s mayor replied that it did not contravene the federal law. While everyone awaited the verdict, the monthly draws went off without a hitch. Players from all over Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia participated.
On September 14, 1968 the Quebec Appeal Court declared Mayor Drapeau’s "voluntary tax" illegal. However, the municipal authorities did not give up the struggle; the Council announced in November that the City would appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
As the debate over legalities continued, sales dropped significantly, because many people did not want to participate in anything illegal. Despite offers of new prizes the revenue continued to drop monthly, and by the nineteenth and final draw, was only a little over $800 000.
On December 23, 1969 an amendment was made to the Canada's Criminal Code, allowing a provincial government to legally operate lottery systems.
The first provincial lottery in Canada was Quebec's Inter-Loto in 1970. Other provinces and regions introduced their own lotteries through the 1970s, and the federal government ran Loto Canada (originally the Olympic Lottery) for several years starting in the late 1970s to help recoup the expenses of the 1976 Summer Olympics
. Lottery wins are generally not subject to Canadian tax, but may be taxable in other jurisdictions, depending on the residency of the winner.
Today, Canada has two nation-wide lotteries: Lotto 6/49
and Lotto Max
(the latter replaced Lotto Super 7
in September 2009). These games are administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which is a consortium of the five regional lottery commissions, all of which are owned by their respective provincial and territorial governments:
Primary, 48% of the total sales are used for jackpot, with the remaining 52% used for administration and sponsorship of hospitals and other local causes.
in or around 1505. After that first attempt, lotteries were forbidden for two centuries. They reappeared at the end of the 17th century, as a "public lottery" for the Paris municipality (called Loterie de L'Hotel de Ville) and as "private" ones for religious
orders, mostly for nun
s in convent
s.
Lotteries quickly became one of the most important resources for religious congregations in the 18th century, and helped to build or rebuild about 15 churches in Paris, including St. Sulpice and Le Panthéon. At the beginning of the century, the King avoided having to fund religious orders by giving them the right to run lotteries, but the amounts generated became so large that the second part of the century turned into a struggle between the monarchy and the Church for control of the lotteries. In 1774, the monarchy—specifically Madame de Pompadour
--founded the Loterie de L'École Militaire to buy what is called today the Champ de Mars in Paris, and build a military academy that Napoleon Bonaparte would later attend; they also banned all other lotteries, with 3 or 4 minor exceptions. This lottery became known a few years later as the Loterie Royale de France. Just before the French Revolution
in 1789, the revenues from La Lotterie Royale de France were equivalent to between 5 and 7% of total French revenues.
Throughout the 18th century, philosophers like Voltaire
as well as some bishop
s complained that lotteries exploit the poor. This subject has generated much oral and written debate
over the morality of the lottery. All lotteries (including state lotteries) were frowned upon by idealists of the French Revolution, who viewed them as a method used by the rich for cheating the poor out of their wages.
The Lottery reappeared again in 1936, called lotto, when socialists
needed to increase state revenue
. Since that time, La Française des Jeux (government owned) has had a monopoly on most of the games in France, including the lotteries. There have also been reports of lotteries regarding the mass guillotine executions in France. It has been said that a number was attached to the head of each person to be executed and then after all the executions, the executioner would pull out one head and the people with the number that matched the one on the head were awarded prizes (usually small ones); each number was 3-to-5 digits long.
ever. The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF) also introduced the first instant scratchcard
games on the Internet during this time. The ILLF supports a wide range of charitable projects and organisations internationally and in Liechtenstein.
The ILLF operates many websites, referred to as the ILLF brands. Combined, these brands offer a wide array of games to choose from.
Lottery winnings are not taxed in Liechtenstein.
directly to charities and community organisations. Sport and Recreation New Zealand
, Creative New Zealand
and the New Zealand Film Commission
are statutory bodies that operate autonomously in distributing their allocations from the Lottery Grants Board.
The lotteries are drawn on Saturday and Wednesday. Lotto is sold via a network of computer terminals in shopping centers across the nation. The Lotto game was first played in 1987 and replaced New Zealand's original national lotteries, the Art Union and Golden Kiwi. Lotto is a pick 6 from 40 numbers game. The odds of winning the first division prize of around NZ$300,000 to NZ$2 million are 1 in 3,838,380.
The Powerball game is the standard pick 6 from 40 Lotto numbers with an additional pick 1 from 10 Powerball number. This game has odds of 1 in 38,383,800 and a first prize of between NZ$4 million and NZ$30 million. In 2007 Powerball changed to a pick 1 of 10 game (formerly pick 1 of 8) and the minimum Powerball prize increased from $1 million to $2 million. In 2010, to cover the GST increase, New Zealand Lotteries Commission increased the price of Powerball from NZ50c per board to 60c. But to cover this, the minimum jackpot went from NZ$3 million to NZ$4 million. Powerball was the only game to increase in price to cover the GST increase. Big Wednesday is a game played by picking 6 numbers from 45 plus heads or tails from a coin toss. A jackpot cash prize of NZ$1 million to NZ$15 million is supplemented with product prizes such as Porsche and Aston Martin cars, boats, holiday homes and luxury travel. The odds of winning first prize are 1 in 16,290,120.
Website operators independent of the state Lotteries Commission began publishing online Lotto results as early as 1998. An interactive Lotto website authorised to sell tickets online was established in 2007.
There are also two other games, Keno and Bullseye. New Zealand Lotteries claims that their game, 'Bullseye' is a world first.
Lottery winnings are not taxed in New Zealand.
which is called The National Lottery
currently has four games Thunderball, Lotto, Lotto Plus 5 and Euromillions
which is played on a pan-European basis. The National Lottery is operated on a franchise basis from the National Lottery Commission
and is currently held by Camelot Group
. A new Privately run lottery called The Health Lottery
has recently launched.
Private lotteries were legal in the US in the early 19th century. In fact, a number of US patents were granted on new types of lotteries. In today's vernacular, these would be considered business method patent
s.
Before the advent of government-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived; see Numbers game
and Peter H. Matthews
. The oldest continuing government-run lottery in the US was established in Puerto Rico
in 1934; the oldest continuing lottery on the US mainland began in 1964 in New Hampshire
. As of 2011, lotteries are established in 43 states, the District of Columbia
, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
;
The first modern US mult-jurisdictional lottery was formed in 1985, linking Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 1988, the Multi-State Lottery Association
(MUSL) was formed with Oregon
, Iowa
, Kansas
, Rhode Island
, West Virginia
, Missouri
, and the District of Columbia as its charter members; it is best known for Powerball
, which was designed to build up very large jackpots. The other major US multi-jurisdictional game, then known as The Big Game (now called Mega Millions
), was formed in 1996 by Georgia
, Illinois, Massachusetts
, Maryland
, Michigan
and Virginia
as its charter members. In late 2009, MUSL and the Mega Millions consortium agreed to allow US jurisdictions then with either game to sell tickets for both beginning January 31, 2010. As of April 13, 2011, Mega Millions is available in 43 jurisdictions, with Powerball in 44; both games are available in 42 jurisdictions.
Instant lottery tickets, also known as scratch cards
, were introduced in the 1970s, becoming a major source of US lottery revenue. Some jurisdictions have introduced keno
and/or video lottery terminals (slot machine
s in all but name).
Other major US lotteries include Cashola
, Hot Lotto
, and Wild Card 2
, some of MUSL's other games. (As of April 13, 2011, Cashola will end when its next jackpot is won.)
With the advent of the Internet it became possible for people to play lottery-style games on-line, many times for free (the cost of the ticket being supplemented by merely seeing an ad or some other form of revenue). GTech Corporation
, headquartered in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, administers 70% of worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website. With online gaming rules generally prohibitive, "lottery" games face less scrutiny. This is leading to the increase in web sites offering lottery ticket purchasing services, charging premiums on base lottery prices. The legality of such services falls into question across many jurisdictions, especially throughout the United States, as the gambling laws related to lottery play generally have not kept pace with the spread of technology.
Presently, large portions of many American state lotteries are used to fund public education systems.
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
is a form of gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. In several countries, lotteries are legalized by the governments themselves.
Countries with a national lottery
North and South America
: Quiniela, Loto and various others: Barbados lotteryBarbados lottery
The Barbados lottery is the national lottery in Barbados. It is owned by the Barbados Olympic Association. Its games are:*Double Draw*Mega 6*Doubles*Pick 3*Pick 4*Caribbean Keno*Super Lotto*Scratch...
and various others: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia y Salubridad: Mega-Sena
Mega-Sena
The Mega-Sena is the largest lottery in Brazil, held by the Caixa Econômica Federal bank.-Drawings:Drawings happen twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The drawings consist of picking globes from 2 spinning spherical cages. They are picked in pairs, in order to form a 2 digit decimal number...
and various others: Lotto 6/49
Lotto 6/49
Lotto 6/49 is one of Canada's two national lottery games. Winning numbers are drawn by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation every Wednesday and Saturday. Launched on June 12, 1982, Lotto 6/49 was the first nationwide Canadian lottery game to allow players to choose their own numbers...
and Lotto Max
Lotto Max
Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game that began sales on September 19, 2009. The first set of winning numbers were drawn on September 25, 2009, and subsequent draws have been held every Friday. It replaced Lotto Super 7 in September 2009....
: Baloto: Polla Chilena de Beneficencia S.A.: Lotería Nacional, Chances Lotería Popular, Lotería Tiempos, and Lotería Instantanea (better known as "Raspaditas" since the tickets are scratch cards).: Lotería Electrónica Internacional Dominicana S.A.: Lotería Nacional: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, Lotín (scratch cards).: Loterías Electronicas de Honduras S.A.: Lotería Nacional para la Asistencia Pública and Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública: state lotteries in almost every state, along with 2 multi-state lotteries Mega Millions
Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...
, Powerball
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
Asia
: China Welfare Lottery, China Sports Lottery: Mark SixMark Six
Mark Six is a lottery betting organized by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.-The game:Mark Six is a lottery style game where players guess what numbers will be drawn out of a lottery machine. The lottery machine is a transparent plastic cylinder which contains colored balls numbered 1 to 49. The cylinder...
: Lotto: Takarakuji (宝くじ): La Libanaise des Jeux: Macau SLOT: Sports Toto, Magnum 4D and Pan Malaysian Pools (Da Ma Cai, or simply known as "Kuda" (horse).): 6D, Lotto: Philippine Lotto Draw
Philippine Lotto Draw
The Philippine Lotto Draw is a television program in the Philippines. Produced by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and it is aired on the People's Television Network since March 8, 1995. The draw is also simulcast live on AM radios DZME and DZRH, both licensed in Mega Manila...
: Singapore Pools
Singapore Pools
Singapore Pools is the only legal lottery operator in Singapore, incorporated in 1968 to curb illegal gambling. It provides a legal avenue for betting in Singapore....
: Lotto 6/45, Popcorn, Speeto500, Pension Lottery 520 (generally called 'Bok-Kwon', 복권): National Lottery, Development Lottery: Taiwan Lottery: สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล (salak gin bang ratthabarn or "Government Lottery"), also called lottery or หวย (huay).: Various games by the National Lottery Administration under the name of Loto Türkiye
Loto Türkiye
Loto Türkiye is the general name for the National Lottery Body of Turkey. It operates Sayısal Loto , Süper Loto , Şans Topu , On Numara and Milli Piyango....
including Loto 6/49 and jackpots: Xổ số kiến thiết
Europe
Belgium Republic of Ireland Early Modern France Luxembourg Portugal Spain Switzerland United Kingdom Pan-EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an: EuroMillions
EuroMillions
EuroMillions is a transnational lottery, launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris...
Sweden Denmark Iceland Finland Estonia Latvia Lithuania NordicNordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
and Baltic
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
countries: Viking Lotto
Viking Lotto
Viking Lotto is a cooperation between the national lotteries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Viking Lotto started in 1993 and was the first of its kind in Europe.Draws are held every Wednesday evening and they take place at Norsk Tipping in Hamar...
: Lotto 6 aus 45, EuroMillions and Zahlenlotto: Loterie Nationale or Nationale Loterij and EuroMillions: Durzhavna lotariya, TOTO 2 (6/49, 6/42, 5/35) Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
: Channel Islands Lottery
Channel Islands Lottery
The Channel Island Lottery is the State lottery in the Channel Islands run jointly by the States of Jersey and States of Guernsey. It is the oldest national lottery in the British Isles with the first draw being in 1975.-History:...
: Hrvatska lutrija: Sazka: Lotto, Klasselotteriet: Lotto, scratch tickets, racing & football pools (Veikkaus
Veikkaus
Veikkaus Oy is the Finnish national betting agency. It is entirely owned by the Finnish government and has a legal betting license on lotteries and sports betting in Finland. Veikkaus is managed by the Finnish Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education share money earned by Veikkaus with various...
): La Française des Jeux: Lotto 6 aus 49, Spiel 77 and Super 6: OPAP
OPAP
OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. is a public company based in Athens, Greece that exclusively operates and manages numerical lottery and sports betting games in Greece.OPAP is Europe's biggest betting firm...
, Lotto 6/49, Joker 5/45 + 1/20 and various others: Lottó (5/90 6/45 and 7/35): Lottó: The National Lottery
National Lottery (Ireland)
The National Lottery is the state lottery of Ireland. It was founded when the Oireachtas passed the to support initiatives in the areas of sport and recreation, health and welfare, national heritage and the arts, and the Irish language. Since gaming operations began on 23 March 1987, over €3.6...
and EuroMillions: Lotto, SuperEnalotto
SuperEnalotto
SuperEnalotto is a lottery that has been played in Italy since 3 December 1997. Draws take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM. The jackpots won are among the largest in the world, and the odds of winning the worst in the world....
, Win for Life
Win For Life
Lottery games with a "lifetime" prize, known by several names, including Win For Life, comprise two types of US lottery games in which the top prize often is automatically paid out in an annuity; unlike most annuities with a fixed period, lifetime annuities often pay until the winner's death,...
: Lotaria e Kosoves, Lotarija na Kosova, Lotto de Kosova: Latloto 5/35, SuperBingo, Keno: International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation
International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation
The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation was a government authorised and state controlled charitable foundation that operated Internet lotteries. The ILLF pioneered Internet gaming, having launched the web's first online lottery, PLUS Lotto, in 1995 and processed the first online...
: EuroMillions: Super 5 and Lotto: Lotarija na Makedonija: Lutrija Crne Gore: Nationale Postcode Loterij, Staatsloterij (The State Lottery): Lotto, Tipping, V75, scratch tickets (Norsk Tipping
Norsk Tipping
Norsk Tipping AS is the national lottery in Norway, located in Hamar. The company offers a wide range of lottery, sports and instant games in the Norwegian market. Norsk Tipping is owned by the Norwegian government and administered by Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs...
): Lotto: Lotaria Clássica, EuroMillions and Lotaria Popular: Loteria Română (6/49, 5/40, Joker): Gosloto : Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, EuroMillions and ONCE
ONCE
ONCE , or Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles , is a Spanish foundation founded on December 13, 1938 to raise funds to provide services for the blind and people with serious visual impairment....
: Ukrayinska Natsionalna Lotereya : The National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
, the main game being Lotto. Also The Health Lottery
The Health Lottery
The Health Lottery is a lottery in Great Britain launched in October 2011 where players must choose five different numbers from the range 1 to 50 and match at least three in order to win a prize...
has recently launched in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
only.
Notable prizes
| Prize (local currency) |
Lottery | Country | Winner | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $390m | Mega Millions | One ticket each from New Jersey and Georgia | 6 March 2007 | World's largest annuitized jackpot | |
| $380m | Mega Millions | One ticket each from Idaho and Washington Washington's Lottery Washington's Lottery is run by the government of Washington. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Keno, Hit 5, and scratch games.-Games:Washington's Lottery offers several draw games, plus scratch ticket games... |
4 January 2011 | ||
| $365m | Powerball | One ticket bought by eight co-workers from a Nebraska meat-processing plant | 18 February 2006 | World's biggest prize from one ticket | |
| $363m | The Big Game | Two winning tickets: Larry and Nancy Ross (Michigan), Joe and Sue Kainz (Illinois) | 9 May 2000 | Note: The Big Game is now Mega Millions | |
| $340m | Powerball | One ticket (Medford, Oregon Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon... |
19 October 2005 | Largest prize to one person | |
| $319m | Mega Millions | Larges Mega Million lotto win in New York State | 25 March 2011 | Won by employees of same IT firm who shared 1 ticket ($19m each after tax). | |
| $315m | Mega Millions | Largest Mega Millions prize on one ticket (California) | 15 November 2005 | ||
| $314.9m | Powerball | Andrew Jackson “Jack” Whittaker, Jr. Jack Whittaker (lottery winner) Andrew Jackson “Jack” Whittaker, Jr. is a West Virginia businessman who became famous when he won US$314.9 million in the Powerball multi-state lottery. At the time it was the largest jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket in the history of American lottery... |
25 December 2002 | Second-largest prize to one person | |
| €183.5m cash | EuroMillions | ×2, ×1 |
Three tickets | 3 February 2006 | Europe's largest jackpot |
| €177.7m cash | SuperEnalotto | One ticket, shared by 70 players | 30 October 2010 | ||
| €147.8m cash | SuperEnalotto | One ticket, Bagnone, Toscana | 22 August 2009 | Europe's biggest winning ticket | |
| €129.8m | EuroMillions cash | Anonymous UK resident | 8 October 2010 | Biggest EuroMillions win | |
| €126.2m | EuroMillions | Anonymous 25 year-old woman from Mallorca | 8 May 2009 | Largest single winner in EuroMillions. | |
| €115.4m | EuroMillions | Dolores McNamara | 29 July 2005 | Biggest single winner and jackpot (Ireland) | |
| €100m | EuroMillions | One anonymous ticket holder. Ticket sold in Tienen. | 9 February 2007 | Biggest single winner and jackpot (Belgium) | |
| €100m | EuroMillions | One ticket holder but shared by a syndicate of 15 players. Ticket sold in Venelles (Bouches-du-Rhône). | 18 September 2009 | Biggest win and jackpot (France) | |
| £84.4m | EuroMillions | Anonymous | 14 May 2010 | UK's biggest lottery jackpot | |
| £56m | EuroMillions | Nigel Page and Justine Laycock from Cirencester. The total jackpot of £112m was shared with a winner in Spain. | 12 February 2010 | ||
| £42m | National Lottery | Three ticket holders | 6 January 1996 | ||
| €37.6m | National Lottery | Won by a nurse from North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the... |
7 October 2006 | Largest German prize and single winner | |
| €25m | State Lottery | Ticket sold in The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam... |
10 July 2008 | Tax free lump sum | |
| ₱741.1m | Grand Lotto 6/55 Philippine Lotto Draw The Philippine Lotto Draw is a television program in the Philippines. Produced by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and it is aired on the People's Television Network since March 8, 1995. The draw is also simulcast live on AM radios DZME and DZRH, both licensed in Mega Manila... |
 Philippines |
One ticket holder from Olongapo City Olongapo City The City of Olongapo is a highly urbanized city located in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 227,270 people in 50,300 households.-History:... Retrieved on: 2 April 2011 |
29 November 2010 | Asia's largest prize (€13m) |
| R$145m | Mega-Sena Mega-Sena The Mega-Sena is the largest lottery in Brazil, held by the Caixa Econômica Federal bank.-Drawings:Drawings happen twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The drawings consist of picking globes from 2 spinning spherical cages. They are picked in pairs, in order to form a 2 digit decimal number... |
Won by one ticket holder from Brasília Brasília Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the... (Federal District Brazilian Federal District The Federal District is set apart for Brasília, the capital of Brazil. Located in a region called Planalto Central, or Central Plateau, the Federal District is divided in 29 administrative regions. Brasilia - place where the three branches of the Federal Government are located - is the main... ) and one from Santa Rita do Passa Quatro Santa Rita do Passa Quatro Santa Rita do Passa Quatro is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 was 27,171 and the area is 754.91 km². The elevation is 748 m.... (São Paulo São Paulo (state) São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil... ) |
31 December 2009 | South America's largest prize | |
| AUS$106m | OZ lotto | Two winners | 30 june 2009 | Australia's highest lottery prize |
Sources:
USA Mega Lottery News Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Online resource on the development of the online casino and lotto industry Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
£110m winner of EuroMillions jackpot was ill in bed with flu Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Lottery winner claims £77m cheque Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
International Gaming Law and Online Lotto Information Center Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Three winners scoop EuroMillions Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Multiple Anecdotes about jackpot winners Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Eight share $365m US lottery win Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Biggest Wins in Italy Listed (in Italian) Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Online Jackpot Finder - Lotto Resources Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
European $145 million lottery draw nears Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
Jackpot of 25 million is in The Hague region (in Dutch) Retrieved on: April 2, 2011
On 20 September 2005 a primary school boy in Italy won the equivalent of £27.6 million in the Italian national lottery. Although children are not allowed to gamble under Italian law, children are allowed to play the lottery. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16164112&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=primary-pupil-s--pound-27m-lotto-win--name_page.html
Australia
In Australia, lotteries operators are licensed at a state or territory level, and include both state government-owned and private sector companies.Canada
In Canada prior to 1967 buying a ticket on the Irish Sweepstakes was illegal. In that year the federal Liberal government introduced a special law (an Omnibus Bill) intended to bring up-to-date a number of obsolete laws. Pierre TrudeauPierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
, the Minister of Justice at that time, sponsored the bill. On September 12, 1967, Mr. Trudeau announced that his government would insert an amendment concerning lotteries.
Even while the Omnibus Bill was still being written, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
mayor Jean Drapeau, trying to recover some of the money spent on the World’s Fair and the new subway system
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
, announced a "voluntary tax". For a $2.00 "donation" a player would be eligible to participate in a draw with a grand prize of $100 000. According to Drapeau, this "tax" was not a lottery for two reasons. The prizes were given out in the form of silver bars, not money, and the "competitors" chosen in a drawing would have to reply correctly to four questions
Skill testing question
Skill testing questions are a legal requirement attached to many contests in Canada.The combined effect of Sections 197 to 206 of the Criminal Code of Canada bans for-profit gaming or betting, with exceptions made for provincial lotteries, licensed casinos, and charity events...
about Montreal during a second draw. That competition would determine the value of the prize that the winner would win. The replies to the questions were printed on the back of the ticket and therefore the questions would not cause any undue problems. The inaugural draw was held on May 27, 1968.
There were debates in Ottawa and Quebec City about the legality of this 'voluntary tax'. The Minister of Justice alleged it was a lottery. Montreal’s mayor replied that it did not contravene the federal law. While everyone awaited the verdict, the monthly draws went off without a hitch. Players from all over Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia participated.
On September 14, 1968 the Quebec Appeal Court declared Mayor Drapeau’s "voluntary tax" illegal. However, the municipal authorities did not give up the struggle; the Council announced in November that the City would appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
As the debate over legalities continued, sales dropped significantly, because many people did not want to participate in anything illegal. Despite offers of new prizes the revenue continued to drop monthly, and by the nineteenth and final draw, was only a little over $800 000.
On December 23, 1969 an amendment was made to the Canada's Criminal Code, allowing a provincial government to legally operate lottery systems.
The first provincial lottery in Canada was Quebec's Inter-Loto in 1970. Other provinces and regions introduced their own lotteries through the 1970s, and the federal government ran Loto Canada (originally the Olympic Lottery) for several years starting in the late 1970s to help recoup the expenses of the 1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
. Lottery wins are generally not subject to Canadian tax, but may be taxable in other jurisdictions, depending on the residency of the winner.
Today, Canada has two nation-wide lotteries: Lotto 6/49
Lotto 6/49
Lotto 6/49 is one of Canada's two national lottery games. Winning numbers are drawn by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation every Wednesday and Saturday. Launched on June 12, 1982, Lotto 6/49 was the first nationwide Canadian lottery game to allow players to choose their own numbers...
and Lotto Max
Lotto Max
Lotto Max is a Canadian lottery game that began sales on September 19, 2009. The first set of winning numbers were drawn on September 25, 2009, and subsequent draws have been held every Friday. It replaced Lotto Super 7 in September 2009....
(the latter replaced Lotto Super 7
Lotto Super 7
Lotto Super 7 was a national lottery game in Canada, operated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation . It was launched in 10 June 1994, and its last draw was on 18 September 2009....
in September 2009). These games are administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which is a consortium of the five regional lottery commissions, all of which are owned by their respective provincial and territorial governments:
- Atlantic Lottery CorporationAtlantic Lottery CorporationThe Atlantic Lottery Corporation , currently branded as simply Atlantic Lottery or Loto Atlantique, is an organization that operates lottery games in Atlantic Canada. It is owned jointly by the four Atlantic provincial governments: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland...
(New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
) - Loto-QuébecLoto-QuébecLoto-Québec is a government agency that develops and operates lotteries in the province of Quebec, Canada.-Loto-Québec's mission:Loto-Québec is a Québec government corporation whose mandate is to operate games of chance in the province in an orderly and measured way. It was created in 1969 to...
(QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) - Ontario Lottery and Gaming CorporationOntario Lottery and Gaming CorporationThe Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation , known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown Corporation of the Government of Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for the province's lotteries, charity and Aboriginal casinos, commercial casinos, and slot machines at...
(OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
) - Western Canada Lottery CorporationWestern Canada Lottery CorporationThe Western Canada Lottery Corporation is a non-profit organization founded in 1974 that operates lottery and gaming-related activities for its members, the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut participate as associate members...
(ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, SaskatchewanSaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Yukon Territory, Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, NunavutNunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
) - British Columbia Lottery CorporationBritish Columbia Lottery CorporationThe British Columbia Lottery Corporation is a Crown Corporation of the Province of British Columbia, Canada.It has provided government sanctioned lottery services in British Columbia since 1985...
(British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
)
Primary, 48% of the total sales are used for jackpot, with the remaining 52% used for administration and sponsorship of hospitals and other local causes.
France
The first known lottery in France was created by King Francis IFrancis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
in or around 1505. After that first attempt, lotteries were forbidden for two centuries. They reappeared at the end of the 17th century, as a "public lottery" for the Paris municipality (called Loterie de L'Hotel de Ville) and as "private" ones for religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
orders, mostly for nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s in convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
s.
Lotteries quickly became one of the most important resources for religious congregations in the 18th century, and helped to build or rebuild about 15 churches in Paris, including St. Sulpice and Le Panthéon. At the beginning of the century, the King avoided having to fund religious orders by giving them the right to run lotteries, but the amounts generated became so large that the second part of the century turned into a struggle between the monarchy and the Church for control of the lotteries. In 1774, the monarchy—specifically Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
--founded the Loterie de L'École Militaire to buy what is called today the Champ de Mars in Paris, and build a military academy that Napoleon Bonaparte would later attend; they also banned all other lotteries, with 3 or 4 minor exceptions. This lottery became known a few years later as the Loterie Royale de France. Just before the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789, the revenues from La Lotterie Royale de France were equivalent to between 5 and 7% of total French revenues.
Throughout the 18th century, philosophers like Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
as well as some bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s complained that lotteries exploit the poor. This subject has generated much oral and written debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
over the morality of the lottery. All lotteries (including state lotteries) were frowned upon by idealists of the French Revolution, who viewed them as a method used by the rich for cheating the poor out of their wages.
The Lottery reappeared again in 1936, called lotto, when socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
needed to increase state revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
. Since that time, La Française des Jeux (government owned) has had a monopoly on most of the games in France, including the lotteries. There have also been reports of lotteries regarding the mass guillotine executions in France. It has been said that a number was attached to the head of each person to be executed and then after all the executions, the executioner would pull out one head and the people with the number that matched the one on the head were awarded prizes (usually small ones); each number was 3-to-5 digits long.
Liechtenstein
The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF) is a government authorised and state controlled charitable foundation that operates Internet lotteries. The ILLF pioneered Internet gaming, having launched the web’s first online lottery, PLUS Lotto, in 1995 and processed the first online gaming transactionFinancial transaction
A financial transaction is an event or condition under the contract between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment. It involves a change in the status of the finances of two or more businesses or individuals.-History:...
ever. The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF) also introduced the first instant scratchcard
Scratchcard
A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...
games on the Internet during this time. The ILLF supports a wide range of charitable projects and organisations internationally and in Liechtenstein.
The ILLF operates many websites, referred to as the ILLF brands. Combined, these brands offer a wide array of games to choose from.
Lottery winnings are not taxed in Liechtenstein.
New Zealand
Lotteries in New Zealand are controlled by the Government. A state owned trading organisation, the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, operates low prize scratch ticket games and Powerball type lotteries with weekly prize jackpots. Lottery profits are distributed by the New Zealand Lottery Grants BoardNew Zealand Lottery Grants Board
The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board is a business unit of the Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand.The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board is governed by the Gambling Act 2003. Its purpose is to benefit the community by distributing the profits from state lotteries run by the New Zealand...
directly to charities and community organisations. Sport and Recreation New Zealand
Sport and Recreation New Zealand
Sport and Recreation New Zealand is the New Zealand government body responsible for community sport and recreation programs. It was formed on 1 January 2003 and took over the functions of the Hillary Commission, the New Zealand Sports Foundation and the policy arm of the Office of Tourism and...
, Creative New Zealand
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets and audiences for New Zealand arts domestically and internationally...
and the New Zealand Film Commission
New Zealand Film Commission
The New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
are statutory bodies that operate autonomously in distributing their allocations from the Lottery Grants Board.
The lotteries are drawn on Saturday and Wednesday. Lotto is sold via a network of computer terminals in shopping centers across the nation. The Lotto game was first played in 1987 and replaced New Zealand's original national lotteries, the Art Union and Golden Kiwi. Lotto is a pick 6 from 40 numbers game. The odds of winning the first division prize of around NZ$300,000 to NZ$2 million are 1 in 3,838,380.
The Powerball game is the standard pick 6 from 40 Lotto numbers with an additional pick 1 from 10 Powerball number. This game has odds of 1 in 38,383,800 and a first prize of between NZ$4 million and NZ$30 million. In 2007 Powerball changed to a pick 1 of 10 game (formerly pick 1 of 8) and the minimum Powerball prize increased from $1 million to $2 million. In 2010, to cover the GST increase, New Zealand Lotteries Commission increased the price of Powerball from NZ50c per board to 60c. But to cover this, the minimum jackpot went from NZ$3 million to NZ$4 million. Powerball was the only game to increase in price to cover the GST increase. Big Wednesday is a game played by picking 6 numbers from 45 plus heads or tails from a coin toss. A jackpot cash prize of NZ$1 million to NZ$15 million is supplemented with product prizes such as Porsche and Aston Martin cars, boats, holiday homes and luxury travel. The odds of winning first prize are 1 in 16,290,120.
Website operators independent of the state Lotteries Commission began publishing online Lotto results as early as 1998. An interactive Lotto website authorised to sell tickets online was established in 2007.
There are also two other games, Keno and Bullseye. New Zealand Lotteries claims that their game, 'Bullseye' is a world first.
Lottery winnings are not taxed in New Zealand.
United Kingdom
There is one National Lottery in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which is called The National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
currently has four games Thunderball, Lotto, Lotto Plus 5 and Euromillions
EuroMillions
EuroMillions is a transnational lottery, launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris...
which is played on a pan-European basis. The National Lottery is operated on a franchise basis from the National Lottery Commission
National Lottery Commission
The National Lottery Commission is the non-departmental public body set up on 1 April 1999 under the National Lottery Act 1998 to regulate the National Lottery...
and is currently held by Camelot Group
Camelot Group
Camelot GroupCamelot is a private limited company, its entire share issue is owned by a single shareholder, as detailed above. are the operators of the UK National Lottery. Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in 1993 and was re-awarded the franchise in 2001 and again in 2007...
. A new Privately run lottery called The Health Lottery
The Health Lottery
The Health Lottery is a lottery in Great Britain launched in October 2011 where players must choose five different numbers from the range 1 to 50 and match at least three in order to win a prize...
has recently launched.
United States
In the United States, the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each jurisdiction; there is no national lottery.Business method patent
Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking, tax compliance etc. Business method patents are a relatively new species of patent and there have been several reviews investigating the...
s.
Before the advent of government-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived; see Numbers game
Numbers game
Numbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
and Peter H. Matthews
Peter H. Matthews
Peter H. Matthews was an operator of policy games in New York City.-Biography:In 1915, agents of Charles Henry Parkhurst's Society for the Prevention of Crime and 45 police officers raided his gambling operations and rounded up a number of persons connected with this crime. Many were known...
. The oldest continuing government-run lottery in the US was established in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Lottery
Lotería de Puerto Rico , is the oldest "modern" lottery in the US; it began in 1934....
in 1934; the oldest continuing lottery on the US mainland began in 1964 in New Hampshire
New Hampshire Lottery
Begun in 1964, the New Hampshire Lottery is the oldest US mainland-based lottery. New Hampshire's games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Hot Lotto, and numerous scratch tickets.New Hampshire is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association , which it joined in 1995...
. As of 2011, lotteries are established in 43 states, the District of Columbia
D.C. Lottery
The D.C. Lottery is run by the city of Washington, the US capital. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . Games offered include Powerball, DC Daily 6, DC-5, DC-4, Keno, Mega Millions and numerous scratch tickets.The D.C. Lottery began in 1982...
, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands Lottery (US)
A lottery exists within the United States Virgin Islands, the only US lottery outside the mainland and Puerto Rico. The USVI is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . It is the smallest US lottery to offer either Powerball or Mega Millions or scratchcard games...
;
The first modern US mult-jurisdictional lottery was formed in 1985, linking Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 1988, the Multi-State Lottery Association
Multi-State Lottery Association
The Multi-State Lottery Association is a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 33 member lotteries MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, including Powerball, Mega Millions), video lottery, and instant ...
(MUSL) was formed with Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Iowa
Iowa Lottery
The Iowa Lottery is run by the government of Iowa. It is a charter member of, and home to, the Multi-State Lottery Association , which administers its games on behalf of the member lotteries...
, Kansas
Kansas Lottery
The Kansas Lottery is run by the government of Kansas. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association .In November 1986, voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the creation of a government-run lottery. The Kansas Legislature passed the "Kansas Lottery Act" in 1987,...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island Lottery
The Rhode Island Lottery is run by the government of Rhode Island. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . Rhode Island Lottery games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Wild Money, keno, and numerous scratch tickets...
, West Virginia
West Virginia Lottery
The West Virginia Lottery is run by the government of West Virginia. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . It offers games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, and scratch tickets...
, Missouri
Missouri Lottery
The Missouri Lottery is run by the government of Missouri. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association , whose first drawing was held in 1988.-History:...
, and the District of Columbia as its charter members; it is best known for Powerball
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
, which was designed to build up very large jackpots. The other major US multi-jurisdictional game, then known as The Big Game (now called Mega Millions
Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...
), was formed in 1996 by Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Illinois, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Maryland
Maryland Lottery
The Maryland Lottery is an independent agency of the Maryland government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match, Keno, Bonus Match 5, and numerous scratch tickets. The Maryland Lottery is headquartered in Suite 330 at 1800 Washington Boulevard, in Montgomery Business Park,...
, Michigan
Michigan Lottery
The Michigan Lottery offers numerous on-line and scratch-off games, giving players a wide variety of prize possibilities. Initiated under the authority of Public Act 239 in 1972, the games collect funds to support Michigan’s public school system.- History :...
and Virginia
Virginia State Lottery
The Virginia State Lottery is run by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its residents voted for a government-run lottery in 1987. It is one of 43 lotteries which sells Mega Millions tickets, and one of 44 offering Powerball. In 2007, the Lottery funded Virginia's K-12 public schools with $437 million,...
as its charter members. In late 2009, MUSL and the Mega Millions consortium agreed to allow US jurisdictions then with either game to sell tickets for both beginning January 31, 2010. As of April 13, 2011, Mega Millions is available in 43 jurisdictions, with Powerball in 44; both games are available in 42 jurisdictions.
Instant lottery tickets, also known as scratch cards
Scratchcard
A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...
, were introduced in the 1970s, becoming a major source of US lottery revenue. Some jurisdictions have introduced keno
Keno
Keno is a lottery or bingo gambling game often played at modern casinos, and is also offered as a game in some state lotteries. A traditional live casino keno game uses a circular glass enclosure called a "bubble" containing 80 balls which determine the ball draw result. Each ball is imprinted...
and/or video lottery terminals (slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
s in all but name).
Other major US lotteries include Cashola
Cashola
Ca$hola, a video lottery game, is a former Multi-State Lottery Association game. Ca$hola was, to date, the only US multi-jurisdictional video lottery game. It began in July 2006; Ca$hola ended upon its final jackpot win on May 15, 2011...
, Hot Lotto
Hot Lotto
Hot Lotto is administered by the U.S.' Multi-State Lottery Association , which also operates the Powerball game. Hot Lotto is available in some of the 33 MUSL jurisdictions; Maine is the latest to join, in October 2009. The first drawing was on April 10, 2002 as part of MUSL celebrating the 10th...
, and Wild Card 2
Wild Card 2
Wild Card 2 is a lottery game played in four contiguous states in the northern United States It is administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association , which is best known for Powerball...
, some of MUSL's other games. (As of April 13, 2011, Cashola will end when its next jackpot is won.)
With the advent of the Internet it became possible for people to play lottery-style games on-line, many times for free (the cost of the ticket being supplemented by merely seeing an ad or some other form of revenue). GTech Corporation
GTECH Corporation
GTECH Corporation, a company based in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Lottomatica, S.p.A., on August 29, 2006.-Holdings:...
, headquartered in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, administers 70% of worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website. With online gaming rules generally prohibitive, "lottery" games face less scrutiny. This is leading to the increase in web sites offering lottery ticket purchasing services, charging premiums on base lottery prices. The legality of such services falls into question across many jurisdictions, especially throughout the United States, as the gambling laws related to lottery play generally have not kept pace with the spread of technology.
Presently, large portions of many American state lotteries are used to fund public education systems.