程阳：Lotteries in the United States (1)

(2008-08-24 22:24:14)

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程阳：Lotteries in the United States

Lotteries in the United States are run by individual jurisdictions. Most states have amended or re-written their constitutions to allow for a legal lottery. (Additionally, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands 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.[1] In fact, a number of US 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 lottery in the U.S. was established in New Hampshire in 1964; today, lotteries are established in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.

The first modern interstate lottery in the U.S. was formed in 1985 and linked three of the New England states. 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. [4]

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 70% 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.

States and associated Interstate Lotteries

Interstate lotteries are also referred to as multistate lotteries or multistate games. Of the 42 states that have lotteries, only Florida is not a member of a multistate game, even though state statute 24.105(18)^[1] specifically allows the legislature or governor to direct the lottery department to participate if it is in the best interest of the Florida Lottery.

Powerball

Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida (January 2009), Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Wisconsin