Lotteries in the United States are run by individual jurisdictions. As of 2008, a total of 43 states have amended or re-written their constitutions to allow for a legal lottery. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands also each operate a lottery.
In the U.S., the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each jurisdiction; there is no national lottery.
History
Private lotteries were legal in the United States in the early 1800s. In fact, a number of U.S. patents were granted on new types of lottery. In today's vernacular, these would be considered business method patents.
Before the advent of state-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived; for example, see Numbers game and Peter H. Matthews. The first modern state-level lottery in the U.S. was established in Puerto Rico in 1934, followed by the New Hampshire in 1964; today, lotteries are established in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Arkansas voters approved a state lottery in the 2008 general election.
The first modern interstate lottery in the U.S. was formed in 1985 and linked Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1988, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) was formed with Oregon, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Missouri, and the District of Columbia as its charter members; it is best known for its "Powerball" drawing, which is designed to build up very large jackpots. Another interstate lottery, The Big Game (now called Mega Millions), was formed in 1996 by the states of Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia as its charter members. These states were joined by New Jersey (1999), New York and Ohio (May 2002), Washington (September 2002), Texas (2003), and California (2005) for a total of 12 members.
Instant lottery tickets, also known as scratch cards, were introduced in the 1970s and have since become a major source of state lottery revenue. Some states have introduced keno and video lottery terminals (slot machines in all but name).
Other interstate lotteries include: Cashola, Hot Lotto, and Wild Card 2, three of MUSL's other games.
With the advent of the Internet it became possible for people to play lottery-style games on-line, many times for free (the cost of the ticket being supplemented by merely seeing, say, a pop-up ad). Two of the many websites which offer free games (after registration) include iwinweekly.com and the larger iWon.com, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC Search & Media. GTech Corporation, in the United States, administers 30% of the worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website. With online gaming rules generally prohibitive, "lottery" games face less scrutiny. This is leading to the increase in web sites offering lottery ticket purchasing services, charging premiums on base lottery prices. The legality of such services falls into question across many jurisdictions, especially throughout the United States, as the gambling laws related to lottery play generally have not kept pace with the spread of technology.
Presently, many lotteries in the US donate large portions of their proceeds to the public education system. However, these funds frequently replace instead of supplement conventional funding, resulting in no additional money for education.
Lotteries by state
NOTE :
^While not a true multi-state game, the Iowa Lottery uses the Pick-3 and Pick-4 numbers drawn by the Illinois Lottery for its own games.
North Dakota (which can sell only multi-state games by state law) and Puerto Rico do not sell scratch tickets.
States and associated interstate lotteries
Interstate lotteries are also referred to as multistate lotteries or multistate games.
2by2
Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota
Ca$hola (video lottery)
Delaware, Rhode Island, West Virginia
Powerball
See table above.
Hot Lotto
Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia
Midwest Millions
(scratch game) Iowa, Kansas
Wild Card 2
Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota
Win For Life
Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia
Mega Millions
See table above.
Tri-State Lottery
New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine
See also
- Bearer instrument
- GTech Corporation United States company which administrates the majority of lotteries in the United States and worldwide
- Lottery jackpot records
- Lottery
- Scratch cards
- Sweepstakes
References
- ^ http://www.lexjuris.com/LEXLEX/Leyes2006/lexl2006074.htm
- ^ http:
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