International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF) was a government authorised and state controlled

charitable foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

that operated Internet

lotteries A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

. The foundation pioneered

Internet gaming An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, an ...

, having launched the web's first online lottery, PLUS Lotto, in 1995 and processed the first online gaming transaction ever. It supported charitable causes in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

, many of which support projects in poorer nations internationally. ILLF filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in September 2011.

Chronology

In early 1995, executives of London Mall, a British software developer conceived the idea of an Internet lottery. A license to run a fixed

odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...

Internet lottery, without international marketing restrictions, was obtained from the Liechtenstein government. The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation (ILLF), a charitable foundation, was formed to operate this lottery, then called Interlotto. It also introduced the first instant

scratchcard A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchum, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game, instant lottery, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies) is a card designed for competitions, often made of t ...

games on the Internet during this time. The first Interlotto ticket was sold to Mario Frick, the Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (December 15, 1993 - April 5, 2001). The first Interlotto draw took place at the Köfferli bar in the quaint capital of Vaduz, Liechtenstein on the Saturday evening of 7 October 1995. Caroline Burdet, Liechtenstein's first Olympic

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsle ...

, drew the winning six numbers for what is billed as the first nationally sanctioned lottery on the Internet. Fourteen months later, on 13 January 1997 the lottery site was renamed from Interlotto to PLUS Lotto following an agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), one of the world's best known and most respected humanitarian organisations, whereby the IFRC would become its major

beneficiary A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person who receives the payment of the amount of ...

. The first draw under the PLUS Lotto name took place on 18 April 1997.

Regulation

ILLF was licensed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of Liechtenstein to operate its lotteries. The license was highly regulated, with government appointed

auditors An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

(Thöny Treuhand AG, Vaduz) auditing the ILLF books of account and overseeing all aspects of the operations including scrutinization of lottery pre-draw and draw procedures. This includes all lottery games as well as the instant win games. ILLF's partners were

credible Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Credibility is deemed essential in many fields to establish expertise. It plays a crucial role in journalism, teaching, science, medicin ...

and well known:

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certified the ILLF sites to guarantee personal information such as credit card details is protected and securely processed. The larger Jackpot prizes were insured through R K Harrison Group Limited, a Lloyd's broker, to ensure guaranteed Jackpot prize payouts. Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG held the player funds from transactions made on all the ILLF operated sites to assure

funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm us ...

were securely held and paid out to players. Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, a AAA rated bank, is predominately owned by the Principality of Liechtenstein.

Charity

An integral part of ILLF was its focus on

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

. All the lottery sites in the ILLF network set aside a portion of

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

to fund causes in Liechtenstein and around the world. All donations are made at the discretion of the Charity Allocation Committee which is controlled by the Liechtenstein government.International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation Award guidelines
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ILLF Network

ILLF operated many

websites A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education ...

, referred to as the ILLF brands. Combined, these brands offered a wide array of games to choose from. * World Lotto Corporation * Lotto.li * PLUS Lotto All sites now redirect to the main ILLF home page, discussing the reasons for the filing of bankruptcy.

Games

Several games operated under the ILLF brands: * Lotteries * Instant Win Games * Scratchcards

Lotteries

ILLF offered two weekly lotteries and one monthly lottery.

Weekly 6/49 Lottery

In every lotto draw, six numbers plus one bonus number were drawn from a range of balls numbered 1 to 49. Players choose six different numbers plus a bonus number by a method of their own choosing. Prizes were awarded for matching two, three, four, five or six numbers as well as five plus the bonus ball and six plus the bonus ball. 55545789

Draw

The 6/49 lottery draw was conducted every Friday at ILLF's studio in Liechtenstein and is scrutinized by an auditor from Thöny Treuhand AG, Vaduz. Draws were performed using one of two mechanical ball machines manufactured by Editec (France). Prior to the draw a ball set was selected at random and test draws were carried out to ensure that the machine and ball sets have not been tampered with. After the draw an independent program is run by the auditor and the results compared to the database to verify that the data is correct and there are no errors. The draw was filmed and then made available via the Internet. The Prize Pool for the 6/49 lottery draw was 90% of the value of the ticket price. The allocation is as follows: * 2% for a 6 number match, plus bonus ball * 8% for a 6 number match * 10% for promotional incentive prizes * on average 2% for a 5 number match, plus bonus ball * on average 4% for a 5 number match * on average 7% for a 4 number match * on average 30% for a 3 number match * on average 37% for a 2 number match The overall

of winning any prize were 1 in 6.63.

Little Big One

Little Big One was a weekly lotto where 5 from 15 balls are drawn. Each ticket contains 5 numbers chosen from 15. There were a maximum of 3003 tickets available in every weekly draw. There were three prize categories to be won, including winning for matching zero balls. Since each ticket number is sold only once, winners do not share prizes. The Jackpot is a guaranteed EUR 2,003.00 per week. The weekly draw was an automated draw using a

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

Random Number Generator. The draw took place in Liechtenstein every Wednesday at 11h00 CET but occasionally, due to a "Must be Won Jackpot" feature of the LBO game, could occur earlier. The Prize Pool for the Little Big One draw was 80% of the ticket price. The allocation is as follows: * 27.79% for a 5 number match * 49.95% for a 3 number match * 20.98% for a 0 number match * 1.28% for promotional incentive prizes The overall odds of winning any prize were 1 in 4.27.

Equinox Lottery

The Equinox Lottery was a monthly lottery with draws occurring every month on the same date as the next

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

(the days when the Sun is directly above the Earth's

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

and day and night are about the same length everywhere in the world). In 2010, this was on January 22, February 22, March 22, April 20, May 20, June 21, July 20, August 20, September 22, October 22, November 22 and December 22. There were only 2,000 ticket numbers offered in each draw. The purchase price of a complete Ticket Number is EUR 45. Each Ticket Number consists of 3 Shares. The purchase price of a Share is EUR 15. Players can choose to purchase a complete Ticket Number and/or up to 3 shares, depending on the number of shares already sold in the ticket. It was a

raffle A raffle is a gambling competition in which people obtain numbered tickets, each of which has the chance of winning a prize. At a set time, the winners are drawn at random from a container holding a copy of each number. The drawn tickets are che ...

style draw with a Prize Pool worth up to EUR 45,000.00 and up to 565 cash prizes were awarded. The odds were 1 in 3.54 to win a prize and 1 in 5.45 to make a profit.

Instant Win Games

PLUS Lotto offered a variety of online instant win games. The player could win up to EUR 10,000.00 instantly.

Scratchcards

PLUS Lotto offered seven online scratchcard games. Each scratchcard ranges from a cost of EUR 1 to EUR 7. Prizes up to EUR 100,000.00 could be won.

References

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External links

The International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation website
- explains the reasons for filing bankruptcy. Lotteries Economy of Liechtenstein