Lotteries have been around for centuries, with some even dating back to Ancient Egypt. One of the first official lotteries took place in 1445 when the Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck got rid of his remaining paintings by holding a raffle. The prize became money in Florence, Italy in 1530, and the word 'lotto' means 'destiny' or 'fate'. England quickly followed, with their first lottery held in 1568, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The prizes for this lottery were china, tapestry and cash. The longest running lottery is in the Netherlands ? it began there in 1727, and has been played ever since!

America got in on the game in 1612, with the Virginia Lottery, where profits from the game were put back into the community. Lotteries in America quickly became popular and they helped to fund the Colonial Army fighting for independence from the British in the Revolutionary War. After the war the lottery monies were used to rebuild the damage done during the war. However, they were eventually banned by all states except Louisiana, due to their corruptness. They were instigated again in America in 1964 in New Hampshire, and there are now 38 state run lotteries, and now help fund education and community benefits.

The British National Lottery was launched by the government in November 1994 to raise money for heritage, charity, arts and sports. It is run by the Camelot Consortium and of the weekly takings 50% is used as prize money, 28% goes to good causes, 12% is taken in taxes and the remaining 10% is split between Camelot and the estimated 10,000 retailers who sell the lottery tickets.

It is approximated that an average of 80% of UK adults play the national lottery, each spending approximately ?2.50 a week. The UK lottery is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays and is broadcast on television on BBC One.

Lottery tickets cost ?1 each and the player has to choose 6 numbers between 1 and 49, which must match at least three of the winning numbers drawn to be eligible for a prize. The chances of winning a prize are around 14 million to one ? quite bad odds really but for those who win the difference it makes to their lives can be quite astounding. Prizes are often in excess of ?10 million!!

Some people don't even play the lottery to be in with a chance of winning ? that would be an additional bonus. They play because they know that they are supporting charities and the arts ? in 1997, the National Lottery gave ?137 million to museums and galleries across the country. Fighting back from accusations that the lottery gives too much money to the high arts and not enough to charity the government declared that they were going to use some of the lottery profits for the health service and education.

Scratch cards are the newest form of lottery, and a lot of people consider them to be more thrilling than playing the lottery. It is not just the National Lottery that deals in scratchcards though ~ you can also play for high stakes online.