Playing Lotto; National Lottery History in Brief
Lotteries are a form of gambling that go back a long way. Keno slips from the Han Dynasty in China preserved in museums prove that lottery games go back at least 2,200 years. Celtic sagas, Homer’s Iliad and Roman histories all mention lotteries, proving that lotto games have been around in Europe just as long.
In the 15th Century, various towns in the Low Countries began using municipal lotteries to raise funds for town maintenance and to support the destitute. These games, in places like Bruges, Ghent and Utrecht, were the forerunners of the modern lotto national lottery. National lotteries themselves were first introduced by rulers trying to boost state revenues in France, England and several German-speaking states in the 16th and 17th Centuries. An Austrian national lottery launched in 1751, named Lotto di Genova after the 90 balls in play, is one possible origin of the term lotto in English.
Lotto Play is Simplicity Itself
Beginners have nothing to fear when learning lotto games; play couldn’t be simpler. Much like in bingo, the winning numbers in lotto are drawn as random numbered balls from some sort of drum or chamber that mixes all the balls up. Unlike bingo, however, the player does not require matching numbers in a set pattern on a card.
Instead, the player has already chosen their series of numbers from the total pool of playing numbers. The most popular number pool size in use in the modern lotto national lottery is 49, and players will generally have to choose 6 or 7 numbers. The same number of balls is drawn to determine the prize, and sometimes a bonus ball or two.
Powerball Lotteries Up the Prizes
In Powerball lotteries, players choose 5 or 6 numbers from one set of balls, and 1 or 2 from a second set. To win the top prize, players have to match all numbers in both sections. Lottery odds in general are astronomically against the player, and Powerball odds even more so, but the low cost of a lottery ticket in relation to the huge sums that can be won make it a very long shot that most keen gamers are prepared to take. People DO win the lottery, and it can change their lives.
Once all the balls have been drawn, players must assess their tickets for wins. Multiple prizes are another lotto attraction; most lotto national lottery games start paying prizes for 3 matches or better, with Powerball lotto’s often paying for a 2+1 match or more. These prizes escalate dramatically with a higher number of matches, and top prizes for complete matches can be in the millions, or even hundreds of millions.
Playing Lotto National Lottery Online
Countries that run a modern lotto national lottery include Australia, Canada, the UK, Germany, India, New Zealand, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Thailand and Israel: the lotto national lottery is the only form of gambling allowed in the last-named country. The United States allows government-run lotteries at state level, so individual states make their own rules.
Many of these lotto national lottery games are also available for play online. An online search will help players find lotto national lottery sites accessible in their home jurisdictions, giving them access to gaming entertainment with huge potential prizes.