THE NATIONAL LOTTERY

A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others; such as we have here in the UK, endorse it to the extent of organizing a national lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in many countries, including the USA and most of Europe. This remained so until after World War II. In the 1960s, casinos and lotteries began to appear throughout the world as a means to raise revenue in addition to taxes.

Lotteries are most often run by governments or local states and are sometimes described as a regressive tax, since those most likely to buy tickets will typically be the less affluent members of a society. The astronomically high odds against winning have also led to the epithets of a "tax on stupidity", "math tax" or the oxymoron "voluntary tax" (playing the lottery is voluntary; taxes are not). They are intended to suggest that lotteries, being an addictive form of gambling, are governmental revenue-raising mechanisms that will attract only those consumers who fail to see that the game is a very bad deal. Indeed, the desire of lottery operators to guarantee themselves a profit requires that an average lottery ticket be worth substantially less than what it costs to buy.

Lotteries come in many formats. The prize can be fixed cash or goods. In this format there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. The prize can be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue. The prize may be guaranteed to be unique where each ticket sold has a unique number. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on the lottery ticket resulting in the possibility of multiple winners.

The fact that lotteries are commonly played leads to some contradictions against standard models of economic rationality. However, the expectations of some players may not be to win the game, but to experience the thrill and indulge in a fantasy of possibly becoming wealthy. Even ignoring the thrill factor, there is the theoretical possibility that the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in expected utility, even though it represents a loss in expected monetary value, thus making the purchase a rational decision. Insurance, for instance, represents negative expected monetary value but is not considered to be a tax on stupidity because it is generally believed to deliver positive expected utility to the individual.

What motivates so many people to buy lottery tickets? Alexander Hamilton expressed the opinion that most people are willing to wager a little amount with a chance to win a large amount...and that they prefer a small chance of winning a great amount instead of a great chance to win a small amount. Simply put, it costs little to dream big, and you cant win if you dont play.

Be part of the new rich.

The National Lottery – The United Kingdom’s Largest Lottery

The National Lottery is the United Kingdoms largest lottery. As at April 2008, it is operated by the Camelot Group, to whom the licences were granted in 1994, 2001, and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by The National Lottery Commission. The National Lottery undertook a major rebranding programme in 2002 designed to combat falling sales and this resulted in the main game being renamed Lotto. However, the games as a collective are still known as The National Lottery. It is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the United Kingdom.

All prizes are paid as a lump sum and are tax-free. Of every pound (£) spent on Lottery games, 50 pence (p) goes to the prize fund, 28p to good causes as set out by Parliament (though some of this is considered by some to be a stealth tax levied to support the New Opportunities fund, a fund constituted to support public spending, 12p to the British Government as duty and 5p to retailers as commission, while Camelot receives 4.5p to cover operating costs and 0.5p profit. Players must be at least 16 years of age to participate in the lottery, either in the drawn lottery games or by purchase of lottery scratch cards.

There are twelve different machines that can be used for the Lotto draw. The machine and set of lottery balls to be used is selected at random, and is announced just prior to the draw. The machines are designated Merlin, Arthur, Galahad, Vivian, Lancelot, Garnet, Topaz, Opal, Amethyst, Moonstone, Pearl and Sapphire. Guinevere has also been a designated machine in the past but has now been retired. Ball sets, of which there are eight, are designated by number.

Only people who reside in the United Kingdom may purchase a ticket and must be 16 or older

While only people who reside in the United Kingdom may purchase tickets, there are a few 3rd party companies which offer anyone in the world the chance to enter by entering into a syndicate but pay a premium for this service.

A National Lottery ticket with two sets of numbers for the main Lotto draw, and an unused "Dream Number" generated by "Lucky Dip".

Several games operate under the National Lottery brand: Lotto, Daily Play, Lotto Hot Picks, Thunder Ball, Dream Number, Euro Millions, Scratch Cards, Go For Gold.

dont forget if you dont do the lottery then you cannot win it......this is true I know, because I do it and I win sometimes :)

the national lottery operate an affiliate scheme via www.tradedoubler.com which are a good company. to find out more visit our affiliate page here or go direct to the national lottery