By Carter Forry

Scratching at the History of Lottery Retailers

Lottery Retailers have had a long and detailed history. Some people say that having a lottery system in place is a bad thing while others would disagree. Today, lottery retailers can be found around the world. Despite lottery retailers widespread locations and popularity, lotteries are relatively a new thing. How did lottery retailers start and how have they become as powerful as they are now?

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The first official recorded lottery was called Loterie Royale and was held in France from the 1500’s until the 1700’s. The retailer of this particular lottery system was the French government. The purpose of this lottery was to raise funds for the government and war efforts. This is essentially where lottery retailers were born. The government sold and distributed the winnings to the winners 2

"Jeux D'argent En Ligne De Hasard Et De Tirage." Jeux D'argent En Ligne, Jeux En Ligne De Hasard, Tirage. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014.

France was the first location to have lottery retailers, but the popularity and benefits of the lottery spread to surrounding countries and across the Atlantic Ocean. The next notable lottery system was in Great Britain followed by the American Colonies. All three established lotteries for the same purpose; raising funds for the government and other government activities. Also at this time the lottery retailer was the government and not an external agency. 3

What most Americans do not know is that a lot of the funding for settling the colonies was from the lottery system. Government officials were the lottery retailers at this time. The money raised from the lottery help build schools, libraries, and other institutions

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❑1 Lottery . History Of Lottery . N . p . , n . d . Web .14 July 2014.

Early in the life span of the lottery system there was a major change. This was in respect to who was selling the every day man their lottery tickets. The lottery was becoming very popular among all social classes so government officials could not keep up with the demand. To deal with the high demand and the small amount of officials, the government contracted “agents and runners” who sold the lottery tickets instead of government officials. These people would sell the tickets and give the money to the government

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Time went on and so did the lottery. Unfortunately the greed of people got in the way of the lottery being everywhere. There was some corruption in some lotteries and this lead to the lottery being banned in some countries7

The lottery was banned in many places, but the people still liked the concept of the lottery. Ergo, private lottery systems were established. Some of the time these lottery systems were illegal, especially if the government was not getting a portion of the money. The place to buy lottery tickets was through someone who worked at this private system. This person was not a government official, and the buying of the tickets may have been secret to not catch the eye of an official

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This was one of the major turning points in the history of lottery retailers. For so many years the retailer was a government official or someone who was very close to being a government official. This brought about a time when the common man could purchase a lottery ticket by the common man. This was one of the first times where the second form of the lottery was seen, the private lotteryTwo Types of the LotteryGovernment run LotteryThe government issues

the tickets and the rewards. The profits

will go to the government and

programs run by the government. The

retailer would be a government official.

Private run LotteryThis Lottery system may sometimes be illegal. The profits go to the person or organization that is running the lottery. The retailer would be someone who

works for the organization.

The system of lottery retailers continued in this manner for a long time and is still similar to the system used to this today. 9

The only differences between older time and modern times with respect to lottery retailers is a lot more organization and professionalization. There is also much more revenue coming in than ever before.

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Stated earlier, lottery retailers became more professional. Some lotteries used to be illegal, but most lottery retailers operate in a legal manner. These legal lottery retailers also operate in a professional manner. 10

Another amazing thing about lottery retailers is that the size with respect to locations grew exponentially over recent years. Today it is estimated that there are approximately 240,000 locations in the United States where one can purchase a lottery ticket

With more locations of lottery retailers and the dramatic increase in sales, there is more profit going to the government. This profit goes into funding government programs that helps everyday citizens. Since 1964, lottery programs have raised approximately $200 billion dollars for government programs

"Remember to Play All Lottery Games Responsibly." NASPL. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2014.

Lottery retailers play a very important role in today’s society. Revenue from the lottery helps support many government programs that many United States citizens rely on. Lottery retailers make it all possible.

Lawsuit Filed over Lottery Ticket Tampering. Digital image. Arkansas Times. N.p., n.d. Web. Stolen Lottery Tickets Leads To Arrest. Digital image. N.p., 23 May 2013. Web. 13 July 2014. 1.) Ohio Lottery. Digital image. N.p., 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 July 2014. 2.) Loterie Royale - Billet De 100 Livres Du 26 Mars 1705. Digital image.Http://www.monnaiesdantan.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2014. 3.) http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horsemap/hgppeople.html 4.) http://www.icollector.com/GEORGE-WASHINGTON-Signed-Mountain-Road-Lottery_i9316310 5.) http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/02/life-in-the-southern-colonies-part-3-of-3/ 6.) http://www.history.org/history/clothing/men/wigcover.cfm 7.) http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/edward-marriott-tithingv1/ 8.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alley 9.) http://www.lotteryuniverse.com/news/artmid/968/articleid/270/a-10-lucky-for-life-ticket-turned-out-to-be-worth-65-million-.aspx 10.) http://www.rathinamcollege.ac.in/how-to-compose-a-business-email-to-someone-you-do-not-know/

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