A lottery is some form of gambling that involves the winning of many prizes. Today there are many types of lotteries and some of them are outlawed in various parts of the world so it is important to do some research to ensure that the specific type of lottery you are willing to play is allowed in your area. In the different parts of the world where lotteries are not outlawed they come with some regulations which all players should read and understand before starting to play. Lotteries begun to get popular after the 2nd World War and this was in the 1960’s and this was mainly as a means of raising revenue in addition to taxes. During this time the prize of winning a lottery could be in terms of money or goods.
Companies or individuals who had a fixed prize for lotteries however started finding it difficult if the tickets sold were insufficient to cater for the wining prize. This resulted in the prize being calculated from the amount collected from all participants. The 50-50 draw is one of the popular prize formats where the winner gets 50% of the revenue. However, today most companies that provide lotteries provide players with various options on their tickets meaning there can be several winners in one lottery. Lottery is different in various countries today.
- Lottery in the US is also referred to as the numbers game and it is operated from policy shops. This game was associated with the poor people in the 20th century as players could bet with as little as $0.001. Bookies were also able to extend credit to players which meant that policy winners avoided the income tax payment. Most of the states in America today have amended their constitution and this has resulted to the game starting to flourish again.
- Lottery in the UK was established in 1994 by the then Prime Minister John Major and it is operated by Camelot Group which is regulated by NLC (National Lottery Commission). In this part of the world players are allowed to play in person as well as online. For online lottery players are required to sign up using a loaded account or a debit card for purchasing of tickets. All the revenue raised from the national lottery games is divided in a specific manner namely 12% for the government, 5% to the lottery retailers, also 4% retained by Camelot Group and the rest is given to the players as winnings. All the unclaimed prizes that last for more than 180 days are released to the National Lottery which later gives to charitable organizations.
- Lottery in Germany is monopolized to the government where they have a ‘pick 6 out of 49’system meaning a ticket will need 6 matching numbers out of 49 as well as an additional ‘super number’’ which should be from 0 to 9. The draw is done every Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lottery in Mexico is dates back to the late 1970’s and its main aim is in creating jobs as well as giving an impulse on the process of the national wealth redistribution.