A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.
Lotteries are 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. 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 come in many formats. For example, the prize can be a fixed amount of cash or goods. In this format there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. More commonly the prize fund will 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. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on the lottery ticket, resulting in the possibility of multiple winners.
The purchase of lottery tickets cannot be accounted for by decision models based on expected value maximization. The reason is that lottery tickets cost more than the expected gain, so one maximizing expected value should not buy lottery tickets. Yet, lottery purchases can be explained by decision models based on expected utility maximization, as the curvature of the utility function can be adjusted to capture risk-seeking behavior. More general models based on utility functions defined on things other than the lottery outcomes can also account for lottery purchase. In addition to the lottery prizes, the ticket may enable some purchasers to experience a thrill and to indulge in a fantasy of becoming wealthy. If the entertainment value (or other non-monetary value) obtained by playing is high enough for a given individual, then the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in overall utility. In such a case, the disutility of a monetary loss could be outweighed by the combined expected utility of monetary and non-monetary gain, thus making the purchase a rational decision for that individual.
Types / List of Lotteries Worldwide
Africa
Kenya: Toto 6/49, Kenya Charity Sweepstakes
South Africa: South African National Lottery
Mauritius: Mauritius Lotto/Lotto Maurice.
Morocco: Loto 6/49 Loterie Nationale : www.loterie.ma.
North and South America
Argentina: Quiniela, Loto and various others
Barbados: Barbados Lottery and various others
Bolivia: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia y Salubridad
Brazil: Mega-Sena and various others
Canada: Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max
Colombia: Baloto
Chile: Polla Chilena de Beneficencia S.A.
Costa Rica: Lotería Nacional, Chances Lotería Popular, Lotería Tiempos, and Lotería Instantanea (better known as "Raspaditas" since the tickets are scratch cards).
Dominican Republic: Lotería Electrónica Internacional Dominicana S.A.
Ecuador: Lotería Nacional
El Salvador: Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, Lotín (scratch cards).
Honduras: Loterías Electronicas de Honduras S.A.
Mexico: Lotería Nacional para la Asistencia Pública and Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública
United States: state lotteries in almost every state, along with 2 multi-state lotteries Mega Millions, Powerball
Asia
China: China Welfare Lottery, China Sports Lottery
Hong Kong: Mark Six
Israel: Mifal HaPayis
Japan: Takarakuji (宝くじ)
Lebanon: La Libanaise des Jeux
Macau: Macau SLOT
Malaysia: Sports Toto, Magnum 4D and Pan Malaysian Pools (Da Ma Cai, or simply known as "Kuda" (horse).)
Mongolia: 6D, Lotto
Philippines: Philippine Lotto Draw
Singapore: Singapore Pools
South Korea: Lotto 6/45, Popcorn, Speeto500, Pension Lottery 520 (generally called 'Bok-Kwon', 복권)
Sri Lanka: National Lottery, Development Lottery
Taiwan: Taiwan Lottery
Thailand: สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล (salak gin bang ratthabarn or "Government Lottery"), also called lottery or หวย (huay).
Turkey: Various games by the National Lottery Administration under the name of Loto Türkiye including Loto 6/49 and jackpots
Vietnam: Xổ số kiến thiết
Australasia
Australia: OZ Lotto, Powerball, Lotto
New Zealand: NZ Lotteries
Europe
AustriaBelgiumRepublic of IrelandFranceLuxembourgPortugalSpainSwitzerlandUni ted Kingdom Pan-European: EuroMillions
NorwaySwedenDenmarkIcelandFinlandEstoniaLatviaLith uania Nordic and Baltic countries: Viking Lotto
Austria: Lotto 6 aus 45, EuroMillions and Zahlenlotto
Belgium: Loterie Nationale or Nationale Loterij and EuroMillions
Bulgaria: Durzhavna lotariya (Template:Lang-bu), TOTO 2 (6/49, 6/42, 5/35)
JerseyGuernsey Channel Islands: Channel Islands Lottery
Croatia: Hrvatska Lutrija
Czech Republic: Sazka
Denmark: Lotto, Klasselotteriet
Estonia: Eesti Loto, Keno, Bingo Loto, Viking Lotto, EuroJackpot
Finland: Lotto, scratch tickets, racing & football pools (Veikkaus)
France: La Française des Jeux
Germany: Lotto 6 aus 49, Spiel 77 and Super 6
Greece: OPAP (Greek: ΟΠΑΠ – Οργανισμός Προγνωστικών Αγώνων Ποδοσφαίρου), Lotto 6/49, Joker 5/45 + 1/20 and various others
Hungary: Lottó (5/90 6/45 and 7/35)
Iceland: Lottó
Ireland: The National Lottery (Irish: An Chrannchur Náisiúnta) and EuroMillions
Isle of Man: Participates in The United Kingdom National Lottery and EuroMillions, previously had Isle of Man Lottery.
Italy: Lotto, SuperEnalotto, Win for Life
Kosovo: Lotaria e Kosoves, Lotarija na Kosova, Lotto de Kosova
Latvia: Latloto 5/35, SuperBingo, Keno
Liechtenstein: International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation
Luxembourg: EuroMillions
Malta: Super 5, Lotto, The Players Lottery
Macedonia: Lotarija na Makedonija
Montenegro: Lutrija Crne Gore
Netherlands: Nationale Postcode Loterij, Staatsloterij (The State Lottery)
Norway: Lotto, Tipping, V75, scratch tickets (Norsk Tipping)
Poland: Lotto
Portugal: Lotaria Clássica, EuroMillions and Lotaria Popular
Romania: Loteria Română (6/49, 5/40, Joker)
Russia: Gosloto (Russian: Гослото, The State Lottery) (6/45, 5/36, 7/49)
Serbia: State Lottery (Serbian: Državna Lutrija Srbije)
Slovakia: Tipos
Slovenia: Loterija Slovenije[1] (number games: Loto (7/39), Astro; bingo games: 3x3 plus 6, Deteljica)
Spain: Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, EuroMillions and ONCE
Sweden: Svenska Spel
Ukraine: Ukrayinska Natsionalna Lotereya (Ukrainian: Українська Нацiональна Лотерея, Ukrainian National Lottery)
United Kingdom: The National Lottery, the main game being Lotto. Also The Health Lottery has recently launched in Great Britain only.
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