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Lottery - A Historic Perspective

08:11 Jul 15th, 2018 Games Online Gambling

Lottery is the best and easiest way to win loads of cash prizes with less investment. This popular form of gambling has lured many gamblers to win hefty amounts by buying a simple ticket. Some governments forbid this risky way to earn money but several countries have legalized it by organizing lottery at the national level.

Lottery History - Facts about the evolution of Lotteries

Delving into history of lottery, the first traces of lottery dates back to the Han Dynasty from 205 and 187 B.C. This was the time where ancient Keno slips were introduced. And after that there was no looking back and with the passing time lottery became very popular. 

According to few historians lottery’s history dates back to 1400s and France gave birth to the real rage. That was the time when various towns tried to raise the money to solidify the defense. This initiation was taken by King Francis I of France who allowed lotteries to operate from 1520. Seeing its success in 1567, Queen Elizabeth I established the first English state lottery. Herein the prize was hard cash along with some tangible goods. 

Approximately 400,000 tickets were put on sale which was sold at one go. Soon in 1744 the first lottery was introduced in colonies like Massachusetts. This was only done to overcome the military debts. But it was in 1776 when first national lottery was introduced by the Continental Congress. The main reason behind this introduction was to raise funds for the American Revolution. 

The first municipal lottery La Lotto de Firenze in Florence, Italy was introduced in 1930 and offered the money as a prize. This idea proved to be very successful and lucrative and thereafter various other Italian cities followed the same path. To attract and allure customers, lotteries come in various exciting formats. 

Like the formats prizes also differed as it can be hard cash or goods. Lottery being the game of luck, not only buyer but also the seller was at risk. Hence the prize money was fixed percentage of receipts. 

The most popular lottery formats was 50-50 draw. In this the organizers promised that the prize will be 50% of the revenue. Thus, the prize was guaranteed to be unique as each ticket sold had a unique number. But to make it more popular and competitive many lottery organizers announced multiple winners so that more and more people can play and enjoy it. 

Seeing the popularity and rage it enjoyed, many countries legalized the activities related to lotteries. With the help of internet people from different parts of the world now have the opportunities to play lottery online. Now you can find an array of websites offering online lotteries. All you have to do is pay online and you get to pick a card or number of your choice. Then if your number gets chosen you are the lucky winner of a prize money that can range anywhere from $100,000 to $10 million.