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A Brief History of Lottery Tickets
A Brief History of Lottery Tickets
Lottery tickets have a long and colorful history. The first lottery tickets known are keno slips from the Han Dynasty in China. During the Roman Empire lotteries were used for entertainment during lavish dinner parties. The earliest recorded public lottery was organized by the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus and the proceeds from the lottery were used for repairs in the city of Rome. One of the first European lotteries took place in the Dutch town of Sluis in the 14th century. This early lottery was the first public lottery to offer cash prizes and proved very popular. Lotteries spread across what is now known as the Netherlands and Belgium. Many of these early lotteries used the proceeds for charitable purposes. In the Netherlands lotteries were regarded as a painless kind of taxation.
Ticket based lo0tteries quickly spread to England Queen Elizabeth I chartered the first public lottery in 1566. Later the English government sold the right to sell lottery tickets to brokers who hired employees to sell the lottery tickets. Believe it or not these early lottery brokers were the forerunners of today’s stock brokers.
The history of the United States and lotteries are indelibly connected. The Virginia Company in London held private lotteries to fund the early settlement at Jamestown Virginia. In 1612 King James the First granted the Virginia Company the right to hold private lotteries. Later on lotteries played an important part in the development of Colonial America. Princeton and Columbia universities were financed by lotteries as was the University of Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress established lotteries top fund the Continental Army. Later on the United States forgot its lottery heritage and banned lotteries and by 1900 lotteries had disappeared from the American scene.
The ban on lotteries spawned a new criminal enterprise known as the ‘numbers game.’ Most numbers games were very similar to current pick 3, pick 4 and pick 5 games offered by most state lotteries. In the 1960’s New Hampshire became the first state in modern times to sell lottery tickets. Since then 43 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have established lotteries. Computer technology made the purchase of lottery tickets easier and more accurate. Lottery retailers are able to offer ‘quick pick’ options where numbers are selected by a random number generator. The addition of mega jackpot multi state lotteries like Powerball and mega Millions set new records for lottery ticket sales.
What does the future hole for lottery tickets? Most industry experts say that online lottery ticket sales will be extremely popular among players and boost ticket sales. Some offshore lotteries have already made the move online with great success. In New Zealand players can even have winnings deposited into personal bank accounts electronically. The UK National Lottery sells tickets online and also sells tickets for a few European lotteries such as EuroMillions. In the not so distant future most lottery experts expect paper lottery tickets to be a thing of the past.
Indiana Man Cheated Out of $11.5 Million Dollar Jackpot
Indiana Man Cheated Out of $11.5 Million Dollar Jackpot
Charles Andrews, a 70 year old retired chemist, is suing a convenience store chain for over $11 million dollars claiming he was cheated out of a huge lottery jackpot after an employee at the store refused to sell him a lottery ticket. In his lawsuit Andrews claims he picked the winning numbers for a Hoosier lottery drawing in February 2008. He states that a clerk at the store refused to sell him a lottery ticket minutes before the official sales cutoff at 10:40 PM. Andrews said that the clerk told him the lottery terminal was not working and later printed out a list of winning numbers which proved the lottery terminal was actually working. The clerk told Andrews that the manager did not like to sell any lottery tickets after 10 PM and said that other store employees also refused to sell him a ticket. One of Andrew’s lawyers, Bob Burkett, stated, “They had an obligation to issue him a ticket because he was there before 10:40.”
Andrews is disabled and as a result could not get to another store on time and signed his play slip and left it at the store so he would have proof in case his numbers were winning ones. Andrews stated, “I knew if I walked out the door with the pay slip and I won any money at all with those numbers I couldn’t prove that was the pay slip I left with the employees.” Andrew’s lawyers are arguing that the store was legally obliged to sell him a ticket up to the official cutoff time. The suit was originally filed in Marion County Indiana but was transferred to federal court at the insistence of the Speedway Corporation, the owners of the store. Andrew’s suit accuses the Speedway store of breach of contract and negligence and seeks damages of $11.5 million dollars, the size of the jackpot, and punitive damages.
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC is arguing that they were under no obligation to sell the lottery ticket and are questioning Andrew’s version of events. Andrew’s attorneys are trying to access store security videos. A Hoosier lottery spokesman said that lottery retailers can set their own hours for selling tickets as long as they stop selling by the 10:40 PM cutoff time. Lottery spokeswoman Lucia Anderson stated, “It’s up to the individual retail location.” One of Andrew’s lawyers said the law is not clear and stated, “There is no statute addressing the retail hours and whether they can set it or not set it.” One of Andrew’s lawyers, Josh Brown said that the agreement between the lottery and retailers requires stores that sell lottery tickets to post game and date lists and believes that it should include hours of play.
This will be an interesting case to follow. The results of this case may force lottery retailers to clearly state their hours of operation. Hopefully Mr. Andrews will be awarded the jackpot he was cheated out of by an indolent clerk.