At the first launch, in the early 20th century, lotteries as the forms of gambling are considered illegal in all over the world. Not until the World War II, in the 1960’s casinos and lotteries were mushrooming in many countries, such as USA, most of Europe, and the United Kingdom as a means to obtain more revenue besides taxes. However, in most Islamic countries, lotteries remained illegal but some organizers still run the lottery business secretly and if they get caught, they will be sent to jail.

The prize for the lottery winners varies in a certain amount of cash or goods. Yet, it causes risk to the organizer if there are only few tickets sold. Thus, the ’50-50’ draw is getting more and more popular wherein the organizers will endow 50% of the income from all the tickets sold. Today’s lotteries let the purchasers to choose their own numbers on the lottery ticket which allows the possibility of multiple winners.

The most popular lotteries

Lotteries in big countries such as the USA, the UK, and in other European countries offer huge prizes for the winners. In such a big business with millions even billions of dollars, pound sterlings, and euros, a reliable lottery organizer is highly required. Thus, some states or countries cooperate to establish a huge lottery game. The most popular ones are Euromillions Rollover Jackpot, UK Lotto, USA Powerball, USA Mega Millions, and Australia Powerball.
 
The biggest jackpots ever won

Believed as the world’s largest lottery having the largest first prize jackpot, Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery) grants the main jackpot €720 million, about US$939 million using a Dec 24 2011 exchange of 1.3048. Some of the lottery ticket numbers pre-printed in 5-digit numbers were sold multiple times in several so-called ‘series’. As an example, the ticket with the number ‘58268’ was printed 180 times under different series number in 2011. Therefore, the jackpot was shared to multiple winners and paid out as €4 million (approx US$5.2 million) to each of the 180 ticket owners.

Federal taxes require at least 25% from all lottery winnings. Yet, lottery winners often pay more than 25% and have to pay additional to the IRS when they file their returns. In USA Mega Millions, 3 winners won on March 30, 2012 received total cash pay out $474 million from the total $656 million. In Mega Millions, 2 tickets from Georgia and New Jersey won $390 million on March 6, 2007. The cash payout was $233.1 million, the third largest in American lottery history. On 12 July 2011, in the UK, £161.7 million (US$260 million) was won by a single ticket jackpot in the pan-European EuroMillions.

Interesting facts about lotteries

Behind the roller coaster of lottery games, there are some very interesting facts. First, the ‘lottery curse’ somehow is proven to be true. Chelmsford wealth counselor Szifra birke stated that “roughly one-third of lottery winners get very serious financial problems or go bankrupt within five years of their winnings.” Then, a study done in California revealed that 40% of the total lottery players are unemployed. Studies in Maryland, Michigan, and New Mexico show that people with low education and those living in poverty buy the most lottery tickets.