Oh no, says Mr Smith, but he is convinced that there are better ways to run a lottery than the present, for-profit method, and he is confident that one of these will win the day.

ECONOMIST: Clottery

Approved by politicians everywhere, the best investment by this measure is a state-run lottery or, more significantly, an all-market index fund from which all useful inside information has been excluded.

FORBES: Magazine Article

China has launched a state-run soccer lottery.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Because of the fracas, the bill to legalise the state-run lottery slipped through in a modified form, which could allow other sorts of gambling to be run by companies.

ECONOMIST: Taiwan��s other big bet

Anglesey Council's trading standards officers say the scam is being run by a company calling itself the El Gordo de la Primitiva Lottery in Madrid and has nothing to do with the real lottery in Spain - El Gordo.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | Warning over Spanish lotto scam

The Commission is governed by the National Lottery etc Act 1993, which gives it overriding duties to licence a National Lottery that ensures the National Lottery is run and promoted with all due propriety, and that the interests of every participant are protected.

BBC: Lottery Commission statement

Its aim is to provide a third stream of private sector income, to run alongside National Lottery and government funding, for leading athletes.

BBC: Officials hail new Olympic cash