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.
The origin of today’s lotteries are very ancient, dating back to 100BC, during China’s Hun Dynasty, when the game of Keno was played, with monies going towards the defense of the State, helping with immensely costly projects such as the erecting of The Great Wall of China. The first lottery held in Europe was at the instigation of the Romans. What had begun as a private amusement for parties and gatherings amongst the nobility, was expanded and bettered during the reign of the Emperor Augustus Caesar, who cleverly used it almost as a stealth tax for the raising of large amounts of money to repair the infrastructure of the city.
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.
Northern Europe also became lottery mad, with the first of the English state lotteries initiated by Gloriana herself in the late 16th century. This sold an incredible four thousand tickets, with the prizes on offer including tapestries, plate and cash. The government sold the rights to sell the tickets to brokers, who, in turn, hired agents to sell the tickets to the public. In this fashion, the English lottery operated right up until 1826, at which point the lottery ceased.
Soon, the notion of the lottery had spread worldwide, and was played almost globally. The fine and altruistic intentions of the first lotteries had given way, perhaps inevitably,to venal and corrupt administration of the lotteries. Often, winners in private lotteries would find their advertised prizes substituted for those of inferior value. It was not unusual for the unlucky winners to end up with no prize at all. Some countries, Canada and the United States amongst them, banned the playing of lotteries in an attempt to cut down on corruption. It was not too long, however, before the lottery returned, this time bound by laws and governance to ensure the continuation of its sportsmanlike tradition.
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.
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