What is a lottery?

A lottery is where people buy tickets for the chance to win prizes, which could be cash or other rewards. The winner is chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance, however the odds are usually low.

Early Lotteries

The first recognised lottery was during the Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 BC in China in the form of Keno Slips. Similar to a modern lottery today, players choose a number between 1 and 80 and then a few numbers are drawn as winners, with each casino having it’s variation to the number of winners. It’s believed that a state sponsored Keno was actually used to fund the building of the Great Wall of China – starting lotteries long running history of working with governments to improve their communities.

The first recorded European lottery was during the reign of Roman Emperor, Augustus. Prizes varied from money, to objects of small or larger values like with a modern raffle. Similarly to the Chinese Keno lottery, the money raised was used in the development and maintenance to the civic infrastructure. Augustus’s great-great grandson, Emperor Nero then developed this further many years later and used a raffle system as a means of filling the treasury without having to raise taxes.

UK’s Lottery History

In 1569 under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I the first English lottery was conducted at the West Door of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The objective of the lottery was to raise funds for the completion of public works projects, including London’s water supply system as well as port and harbour repair and fortification and. The prizes included tapestries, silverware, or land.

By the 16th Century small lotteries were commonplace, being run my towns and parishes to help with their infrastructure and support the poor. However, because of the lack of effective communication at the time it was easy for the hosts of the lottery to inform winners that someone else had won, and therefore never pay out any winnings. Therefore, in 1698 a statute declared lotteries illegal unless they were authorised by the statute in order to provide a level of regulation.

A 1934 law legalized small lotteries. However, strict limits remained on the amount people could bet and where the lotteries could operate to prevent any chance of organizers misleading players. Because of this, there could be no large-scale UK-based lottery until the Government established one.

In 1993, the National Lottery was established under government licence in the United Kingdom. They have a variety of draws, covering different amounts of money and regions. Taking inspiration from early lotteries, they continue to use part of their profits to donate to charities and other important causes.

Pick My Postcode’s History

Pick My Postcode was founded in 2011. It is the UK’s #1 FREE online lottery. It’s funded through the advertising on site, just like a free TV channel or newspaper. Given the gambling connotations associated with lotteries, Pick My Postcode’s anti-gambling attitude sets it apart from many other lotteries.

Rather than giving away large winnings, Pick My Postcode focuses on giving away day-changing amounts of money completely for free. Thanks to the roll over system and the member’s bonus building, the biggest Pick My Postcode win is currently £8,660.21 – now that’s not to be sniffed at! They also are inspired by early lotteries beginnings and with their double and donate scheme, help give back to the communities and charities that are important to their members.