Saturday, February 28, 2009

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In Canada prior to 1967 buying a ticket on the Irish Sweepstakes was illegal. In that year the federal Liberal government introduced a special law (an Omnibus Bill) intended to bring up-to-date a number of obsolete laws. The Minister of Justice at that time, Pierre-Elliot Trudeau, sponsored the bill. On September 12, 1967, Mr. Trudeau announced that his government would insert an amendment concerning lotteries.

Even while the Omnibus Bill was still being written, Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, trying to recover some of the money spent on the World’s Fair and the new subway system, announced a "voluntary tax". For a $2.00 "donation" a player would be eligible to participate in a draw with a grand prize of $100 000. According to Drapeau, this "tax" was not a lottery for two reasons. The prizes were given out in the form of silver bars, not money, and the "competitors" chosen in a drawing would have to reply correctly to four questions about Montreal during a second draw. That competition would determine the value of the prize that the winner would win. The replies to the questions were printed on the back of the ticket and therefore the questions would not cause any undue problems. The inaugural draw was held on May 27, 1968.

There were debates in Ottawa and Quebec City about the legality of this 'voluntary tax'. The Minister of Justice alleged it was a lottery. Montreal’s mayor replied that it did not contravene the federal law. While everyone awaited the verdict, the monthly draws went off without a hitch. Players from all over Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia participated.

On September 14, 1968 the Quebec Appeal Court declared Mayor Drapeau’s "voluntary tax" illegal. However, the municipal authorities did not give up the struggle; the Council announced in November that the City would appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.

As the debate over legalities continued, sales dropped significantly, because many people did not want to participate in anything illegal. Despite offers of new prizes the revenue continued to drop monthly, and by the nineteenth and final draw, was only a little over $800 000.

On December 23, 1969 an amendment was made to the Canada's Criminal Code, allowing a provincial government to legally operate lottery systems.

The first provincial lottery in Canada was Quebec's Inter-Loto in 1970. Other provinces and regions introduced their own lotteries through the 1970s, and the federal government ran Loto Canada (originally the Olympic Lottery) for several years starting in the late 1970s to help recoup the expenses of the 1976 Summer Olympics. Lottery wins are generally not subject to Canadian tax, but may be taxable in other jurisdictions, depending on the residency of the winner.

Today, Canada has two nation-wide lotteries: Lotto 6/49, and Lotto Super 7 (which started in 1994). These games are administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which is a consortium of the five regional lottery commissions, all of which are owned by their respective provincial and territorial governments:

EuroMillions



EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery, launched by the Française des Jeux in France, the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado in Spain and Camelot in the United Kingdom on Saturday February 7, 2004. The first draw took place on Friday February 13, 2004 in Paris. Initially only the UK, France and Spain were involved, but lotteries from Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland subsequently joined the draw on 8 October 2004.

Draws are held every Friday night , and take place in Paris. A standard EuroMillions ticket costs €2.00 per line played, or €3.00 if one plays with the "Plus" option (available only in the Republic of Ireland). This is the standard price in all the countries mentioned above. In the UK, it is the equivalent in pounds Sterling, rounded to the nearest 10p (although it has been fixed at £1.50 since the draw began). In Switzerland it is the equivalent in Swiss francs, rounded to the nearest 10c (although it has been fixed at 3.20 CHF since the draw began). Prizes, aside from the jackpot, are sized according to participation per country.

All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax exempt, except in Switzerland, and are paid in lump sum.
How to play
Select five main numbers which can be any integer from 1 to 50
Select two lucky star numbers which can be any integer from 1 to 9
During the draw, five main and two lucky star numbers are then drawn at random from two draw machines containing numbered balls. The machines containing fifty balls is called Stresa, and the one containing nine is the Paquerette

SuperEnalotto



Tickets cost one Euro for two tries.

The object of the game is to match 6 numbers out of 90. Should a player match all of them, he/she wins the jackpot.

The six main winning numbers numbers are taken from the first number drawn in Lottomatica's regional Lotto draws for the cities of Bari, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo & Rome considered in that order. Then a Jolly Number comes from the Venice draw. If any of these numbers has already been found then the next number from that city's Lotto draw is considered until one that hasn't already been found is located and that number is used. Those who match 5 numbers will have a chance to match the Jolly Number. In doing so, they'll win second prize.

There are 5 ways to win. Here are the prizes and the odds in winning them;