When, as is usual, a proportion of the money an individual spends on a lottery ticket,goes in part towards helping to fund a charitable project, gambling becomes much more than one person winning or losing. It transforms into something far more altruistic, charitable and beneficial to society as a whole. This happens more and more often these days.

Historically, although the original lottery, called Keno, was begun in China during the Hun Dynasty, or around 100BC, when revenue raised went into projects to defend the country, such as the Great Wall of China, it was the ancient Romans who modified and developed the idea of a lottery, the first such in Europe. Augustus took the idea of private gambling, which was popular with noble households, and expanded it, with tickets sold to fill the Emperors coffers with money to keep the city in a good state of repair. Rather than the cash usually awarded today, objects of virtue were awarded as prizes to the lucky citizens.

During the medieval period was the first public lottery held in modern times recorded as taking place in the town of Sluis,in the Netherlands, in 1434. The first time that money rather than prizes was regularly given away was in about 1444, in Flanders - an area now covered by France, Holland and Belgium. These lotteries are reputed to have been held for the benefit of both the poor and the towns fortifications. These lotteries were regarded, especially by the Dutch, as a form of taxation, albeit in a somewhat disguised form.It is recorded that in 1465, in Belgium, lotteries were held to raise money for the construction of almshouses, port facilities and canals.

Western Europe clamored for an opportunity to play. In England, Queen Elizabeth I shrewdly began the English state lottery, the first of which sold four thousand tickets- showing the public appetite not only for gambling, but also for the rich prizes: tapestries, plate and cash. The government soon sold the rights to the lottery to brokers, who then hired middle men - agents to sell the tickets on to the public. It was a very successful undertaking, and continued to raise significant amounts of revenue until 1836, when the then government discontinued it.

Different forms of the lottery were invented and took hold, with lotteries played almost universally worldwide in some fashion or other. Soon, however, the initial noble intentions of the first lotteries were submerged in a sea of greed and corruption. Many private lotteries did not give the prizes as advertised, but maintained the right to substitute inferior prizes; inn the worst cases, no prizes were ever handed over to the unfortunate winners. The United States and Canada eventually banned all lotteries, and prohibiting all such. In time, however, new laws and regulations were decreed to ensure the fair running of the new generation of lotteries and games of chance.

Good practice dictates that today’s modern lotteries should apportion some of the ticket sales to charitable causes and institutions. Today it is easier than ever to lay a bet or buy a ticket to a game of chance, with the arrival of online betting sites.

If you need to see the results of the lottery then check out the National Lottery Results Checker.

Leave a Reply