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A lottery is a popular form of gambling
which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw it,
while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national lottery. It is
common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments.
At the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including
lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in many countries, including the U.S.A.
and most of Europe. This remained so until after World War II. In the 1960s
casinos and lotteries began to appear throughout the world as a means to raise
revenue in addition to taxes.
Lotteries are most often run by governments or local states and are sometimes
described as a regressive tax, since those most likely to buy tickets will
typically be the less affluent members of a society. The astronomically high
odds against winning the larger prizes have also led to the epithets of a "tax
on stupidity", "math tax" or "voluntary tax". They are intended to suggest that
lotteries, being an addictive form of gambling, are governmental revenue-raising
mechanisms that will attract only those consumers who fail to see that the game
is a very bad deal. Indeed, the desire of lottery operators to guarantee
themselves a profit requires that an average lottery ticket be worth
substantially less than what it costs to buy. After taking into account the
present value of the lottery prize as a single lump sum cash payment, the impact
of any taxes that might apply, and the likelihood of having to share the prize
with other winners, it is not uncommon to find that a ticket for a typical major
lottery is worth less than one third of its purchase price. The large multi
million dollar prize lotteries in the USA are paid by annuity over 20 years.
Therefore, if you take a one-time lump sum cash payment, plus pay the federal
taxes, you will end up with about one third of the total prize money offered.
Lotteries come in many formats. The prize can be fixed cash or goods. In this
format there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. The
prize can be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the
"50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the
revenue. The prize may be guaranteed to be unique where each ticket sold has a
unique number. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on
the lottery ticket resulting in the possibility of multiple winners.
The fact that lotteries are commonly played leads to some contradictions against
standard models of economic rationality. However, the expectations of some
players may not be to win the game, but to experience the thrill and indulge in
a fantasy of possibly becoming wealthy. Even ignoring the thrill factor, there
is the theoretical possibility that the purchase of a lottery ticket could
represent a gain in expected utility, even though it represents a loss in
expected monetary value, thus making the purchase a rational decision.
Insurance, for instance, represents negative expected monetary value but is not
considered to be a tax on stupidity because it is generally believed to deliver
positive expected utility to the individual.
Lottery tickets are usually scanned in large numbers, using marksense-technology.
With today's computer performance, it takes less than one second to check if a
particular combination was picked up by anyone, even for lotteries like
Euromillions or Mega Millions.
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Atlantic Lottery
Corporation
The Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) is
an organization which 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 and Labrador. ALC's headquarters are
located in Moncton, New Brunswick. All profits returned by ALC are distributed
to the provinces for their general funds.
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Barbados lottery
The Barbados lottery is the national
lottery in Barbados. It is owned by the Barbados Olympic Association. The
results are aired nightly on the television and printed in the daily newspapers
of Barbados. For each game you must buy a ticket. When the results are shown
after the draw everyone must check their ticket to see if their ticket matches
the results. The person holding that matching ticket wins.
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Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is a
grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom created by the Government to
administer the funding of good causes following the creation of the National
Lottery. It has an annual expenditure of £630 million.
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California State Lottery
The California State Lottery began on
November 6, 1984 after California residents passed Proposition 37, the
California Lottery Act, authorizing the creation of a state lottery. The minimum
age to purchase lottery tickets in California is 18.
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Camelot Group
Camelot Group plcNote A are the operators
of the UK National Lottery. Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery
franchise in 1993 (though the lottery didn't start until 1994) and was
re-awarded the franchise in 2001. Each franchise period runs for 8 years with
the next franchise starting in 2009. The Government body The National Lottery
Commission is responsible for deciding who is awarded the franchise. The way the
franchise was awarded to Camelot in 2001 caused some controversy due to the
state owned Royal Mail owning a 20% stake in Camelot Group.
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Florida Lottery
The Florida Lottery is one of the most
lucrative single-state lottery systems in the United States with numerous
on-line and scratch-off games offering players a wide variety of prize levels.
The minimum age to purchase a Florida Lottery ticket, regardless of game, is 18.
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Golden Casket
Golden Casket is the government-owned
lottery corporation in Queensland, Australia. They sell lottery tickets and
Instant Scratch-Its tickets (scratchcards) through newsagents and other
convenience stores. Lottery draws are televised on Channel Seven four nights a
week.
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Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was set up
by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1994 and uses money raised through
the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage. From museums,
parks and historic places to archaeology, the natural environment and cultural
traditions, HLF provides grants to support all aspects of the UK's diverse
heritage.
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Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC,
traditional Chinese: 香港賽馬會) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong,
founded in 1884 to promote horse racing. Under colonial rule, the club enjoyed
royal patronage, and existed under the name of "The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club"
(英皇御准香港賽馬會) until 1996.
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Loto-Québec
Loto-Québec is a government agency that
develops and operates lotteries in the province of Quebec, Canada. Loto-Québec’s
mission is to assure the systematic and effective operation of games of chance
in the province of Quebec.
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Lotterywest
Lotterywest, formerly the Lotteries
Commission of Western Australia, is an Australian lotteries corporation run by
the State Government of Western Australia. Lotterywest sells lottery tickets and
"instant win" scratchcards through a network of newsagents and other authorised
retailers. It syndicates national lottery games including Saturday Lotto, Oz
Lotto, Powerball, Monday Lotto, and Wednesday lotto; it also administers the
locally run Cash 3 game.
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Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a multi-jurisdictional
US$1 lottery game in the United States. As of July 2008, there are 12 members of
Mega Millions, while 31 others (29 states, the District of Columbia, and the US
Virgin Islands offer Powerball, Mega Millions' main competitor). As of 2007,
Mega Millions features jackpots of at least US$12 million, payable in 26 annual
payments or a lump sum cash payout. As will be explained later, there are
differences in playing Mega Millions from state to state. Mega Millions is drawn
Tuesdays and Fridays.
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National Lottery (Ireland)
The National Lottery (Irish: An Crannchur
Náisiúnta) is the nationwide lottery that has operated in the Republic of
Ireland since 1987. Created by the National Lottery Act, 1986 for the purpose of
raising funds for deserving causes, the National Lottery offers a range of games
that includes instant scratchcards, lottery drawings, and television game shows.
Since 2004, the National Lottery has also participated in the transnational
EuroMillions game.
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National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the United
Kingdom's largest lottery. 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. The National Lottery undertook a major rebranding
programme in 2002 designed to combat falling sales. This resulted in the main
game being renamed Lotto. However, the games as a collective are still known as
The National Lottery. It is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the
United Kingdom.
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New Zealand Lotteries Commission
The New Zealand Lotteries Commission (NZ
Lotteries) is a Crown Entity that operates nation-wide lotteries in New Zealand.
The oldest and most popular draw is the weekly Lotto which boasts a top prize of
over a million dollars. There are two other draws, Big Wednesday and the
twice-daily Keno, and a variety of scratchcards known as Instant Kiwi. Powerball
and Lotto Strike are optional extras with every Lotto ticket, whilst the Winning
Wheel game is free to all Lotto ticket purchasers.
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Norsk Tipping
Norsk Tipping AS is the national lottery
in Norway, located in Hamar. The company offers a wide range of lotto, sports
and instant games in the Norwegian market. Norsk Tipping is owned by the
Norwegian government (Stortinget) and administered by Norwegian Ministry of
Culture and Church Affairs . Ever since Norsk Tipping opened for business in
1948, the idea has been that the profit from company’s operations would be
channelled directly back to the Norwegian people. During 60 years of activity,
Norsk Tipping have returned more than NOK 78 billion (in today’s value) to
various purposes.
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North Carolina Education Lottery
The North Carolina Education Lottery was
enacted when Governor Mike Easley signed the North Carolina State Lottery Act
(H. 1023) and the 2005 Appropriations Act (S. 622) on August 31, 2005.
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ONCE
ONCE (pronounced /onθe/), or Organización
Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (National Organization of the Spanish Blind), is a
Spanish foundation founded on December 13, 1938 to raise funds with which to
provide services for the blind and persons with serious visual impairment.
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South Australian Lotteries
South Australian Lotteries is a lottery
company that operates in the Australian state of South Australia. It is owned by
the South Australian Government. SA Lotteries syndicates national games
(including Saturday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto) and has its own games (including
South Australian Lotto and Keno). South Australian Lotteries also administrates
The Soccer Pools a national lottery game.
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Tatts Group Limited
Tatts Group Limited (ASX:TTS), formerly
Tattersall's Limited, is a Victorian lottery/gaming company. Tattersall's is
licensed to sell lottery related products including Super 66, Tattslotto, Oz
Lotto, Instant 'scratchies' and Keno in the Australian states of Tasmania and
Victoria, as well as the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.
Tattersall's-related products are sold in 900 venues across Tasmania and
Victoria.
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Texas Lottery
The Texas Lottery is run by the government
of Texas. Its most popular game is Mega Millions; its other major game is Lotto
Texas. Unlike Powerball whose "PowerPlay" is available wherever Powerball is
played, Texas is the only one of the 12 Mega Millions jurisdictions with such a
feature; it is called "Megaplier". Other games include Texas Two-Step, Pick 3,
and Cash Five (previously known as "Cash 5").
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UK Postcode Lottery
The UK Postcode Lottery is a lottery in
the United Kingdom, launched in the north east of England on 31 August 2005. The
lottery is in aid of charity, and works by using an entrant's postcode plus a
unique three-digit number as their ticket number. For example; NE1 1AB 001. The
lottery is run by Postcode Lottery Ltd, on behalf of The GoodFund.
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