The lottery game is a famous gambling mode that has its origin dating back to Ancient times. Nowadays, we have online lotteries where you can take advantage of the modern technologies to play this game via mobile phones and the world wide web.
In recent times, players can now wager on the lottery in the comfort of their homes and wait for the outcomes of their bets, and they can even place their bets on the lotteries offshore. This game that we enjoy today in its online betting singapore has evolved from many iterations throughout the history of mankind.
The origin of the word lottery was derived from the Dutch term ‘lot’ which means ‘fate’. However, today we already injected the Dutch word in the English lexicon to indicate ‘creating decisions by depending on fate or predetermined chances’ as we see in the idiom ‘drawing lots’.
Let’s talk about today the history of the lottery and its significance in the world of gambling.
Ancient Origins
Lottery, as we know it today, originated in Ancient China in 200 BC during the Western Han Dynasty period. People in this era used to play a game called ‘white pigeon game’, basically it is an ancient form of the game of keno. The unusual name came from the birds utilized to send the 4d results of the lottery from town to town.
The Ancient Romans, on the other side of the world, used to play a version of a lottery but for a different reason. The Emperor invited the Roman citizens to purchase tickets for the lottery where they can have an opportunity to win objects from the loot of the army’s current conquest.
Lottery Games in the Middle Ages
The first official lottery game similar to the one that we know of today was first played in the nations of Belgium and Netherlands, the last one is where the root word of lottery originated. In Medieval Italy, the game of lottery was used to raise money for the army of Milan to be used in the war against Venice.
The councilmen of the Republic of Genoa used to draw lots from the names of the council members themselves but they decided to use numbers later on and it became the first number-based lottery game.
In Medieval England, a form of lottery game was used to be played but it is different, the sum of the amount of the ticket is the same amount as the prize pool. This iteration of the lottery is closer to what we have known today as ‘Secret Santa’.
Early Lotteries in the New World
Although the European nations of France and Spain adopted the lottery, the American settlers were the ones who have established the lotto as the game that we know of today. In the early settlement of New York aka New Amsterdam at that time, they organized a lottery where participants had to guess how many Bibles were sold in the town.
Although Americans today have a repulsion to certain forms of gambling, George Washington and the other founders were famous for being organizers of lotteries.
The Irish Sweepstakes
One of the most controversial lottery games ever created was The Irish Sweepstakes. The lottery is used to raise funds to help the dilapidated hospitals of the country. However, even though the winners of these lotteries served as a light of hope for the aspiring winners there is documented evidence that the lottery is more of what it seemed.
Despite the large amounts of money being raised by this charity, there is a little amount allocated to the dilapidated hospitals, and the larger portions were looted by the organizers.
Nowadays, the lottery game has expanded all over the world and each territory has its iteration of the mega lotteries where the prize pool is huge where everyone can play on SG Pools.
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