|
|
| |
| |
| |
Keno Compared to State and National Lotteries
The original lottery can be attributed to Keno which was devised by the Han dynasty to make money for the army and later used to finance the building of the Great Wall of China.
The Origins of Lottery
Keno was a game devised by the Chinese conqueror Cheung Heung from the Han dynasty. The original game was made up of 120 Chinese characters taken from an old Chinese rhyme that was made up of one thousand characters and was used to teach children how to read and write. Players would choose up to 60 characters from the Keno board and mark them off. The Keno ball was then thrown and if the chosen numbers were hit then there was a win. People would bet enormous amounts of money on this game as the potential win was high. This is the origin of playing keno for real money.
The payout was never as good as the total revenue so it provided a good way to raise money. This game of Keno in its original form underwent a number of adaptations and changes when it made its way to Europe and America to become what we know as modern Keno. Modern real money Keno is basically a card with 80 numbers and the player can choose up to 15 numbers. If, when the numbers are drawn and there is a match, there is a win.
Development and Diversity
Keno traveled all over the world and appeared in different forms and was adapted to become known as lottery. The name lottery is from the Italian word "lotto" which means destiny or fate. The lottery was particularly popular in the European countries between the 15th and 17th Centuries where in Portugal it was used to help raise money for the underprivileged. The lottery was used all over the world as a way to replenish funds for the governments whether they were at war or had terrible poverty in certain areas.
The lottery was also talked about as being a voluntary tax as it was the players choice to play but the profits went to the government. As with any good idea, there were also private institutions that cottoned on to the idea and began their own private lotteries. At first these worked very well but with time, they were abused by their owners. Tickets were marked and side betting took place. This began to give lottery a bad name and slowly states all over the US and countries all over the world began to ban lotteries from the late 1800's onwards.
Changing Names
In order to avoid the bans, companies devised ways to carry on playing lottery but under different names. In the US they became known as sweepstakes and were related to horse races, just as their original predecessor, Keno had become known as Horse Race Keno to avoid the anti lottery laws.
Over the next century the idea of lotteries gained in popularity and by 1964, the first legalized State lottery was opened in New Hampshire but it was still know as sweepstakes to avoid the anti lottery laws. With time these were dropped and the lotteries became more popular. Slowly States all over America and countries all over Europe opened up their own lotteries. The lotteries were used as a way of raising money for the government in one form or another just as they had been back in the Han Dynasty with the original Keno.
Lottery Today
Lotteries in State and National form are very popular even though many know that they do not have a good chance of winning. Players like to play and fantasize about winning the big Jackpot and becoming millionaires. Some state lotteries pay out lump sums whereas others offer payments every month which allows the winners the luxury of a second income. Either way is good and something to dream about. The cost of a lottery ticket is relatively low compared with the potential win. There are even some lotteries that guarantee half the value of their intake as a win. National lotteries can be found today in almost all democratic countries and are linked to the government but run by private companies.
In American 41 states run State lotteries and there are a few States that join together to have bi or tri state lotteries, involving multiple states. It is quite something to think that when you are choosing your numbers on a lottery ticket you are in fact taking part in an age old tradition that began with Keno in the Han Dynasty around 200 BC!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
