A glossary of terms and wording of lottery lingo means
Lottery Lingo!
The lottery industry, like any other industry, has its own specific terms and words that are used, and knowing what they mean can enhance your understanding of how the lottery works. Here are some common terms used in the lottery industry:
Advertised Jackpot: The minimum prize amount the lottery estimates it will pay to the winner of a specific draw
Annuity: A payment structure in which a lottery prize is distributed over a series of regular instalments over a specified period, rather than as a lump sum.
Ball Draw Machine: A domed device with a fan that blows around a set of numbered balls, and then randomly lets the balls drop into a try to determine the winning numbers for a specific game.
Bonus Number: When a number is drawn in addition to regularly drawn numbers, it’s known as the bonus number.
Cancelled Ticket: A terminal-printed ticket which is voided after it has been generated by a retailer terminal.
Cash-for-Life Game: A lottery game which offers a set prize payment to be made in instalments for the rest of the winner’s life.
Central Computer: The computer that handles all gaming and validation activity for the lottery, including communications with all the lottery terminals in retail locations.
Claims Centre: A location where a player can have tickets validated and collect prize amounts which exceed those payable by a retailer.
Claim Form: An official lottery form filled out by a player when claiming a prize of at least a specified value at the lottery
Claims Process: The procedure and/or paperwork involved in awarding a prize to a player.
Draw Certification: A process in which draws are verified. Official records are kept of each draw and result, overseen buy an independent operator.
Estimated Jackpot: The jackpot amount estimated to be paid out for a draw based on ticket sales, and the value could fluctuate depending on the amount of ticket sales.
Fixed Jackpot: A non-progressive jackpot.
Fixed Payouts: The number and amounts of prizes established for a game, regardless of how many tickets are sold.
Game Matrix: Configuration of the amount of numbers needed to be matched out of a certain amount of numbers, such as 6/49 or 7/50 games.
Interprovincial Lottery: A consortium of the five lottery organizations which represent all Canadian provinces (Atlantic Lottery, British Columbia Lottery Corp., Loto-Quebec, Ontario
Loss: Used in calculating player statistics, it is an inside term that has no actual meaning to a player. A proper term would be “spent” as players buy a chance to win a prize. Loss refers to the amount of money a player has spent on the lottery without winning a prize.
Lottery: A game of chance in which participants purchase tickets for an upcoming draw for a chance to win a prize, through a random drawing.
Lottery and Gaming Corp., and the Western Canada Lottery Corp.: Participating individually in various multi-jurisdictional lottery games.
Lottery Beneficiaries: The designated recipients of lottery profits such as charities, schools, community service agencies, etc.
Lottery Commission: The members of a board who have oversight of the entire lottery organization. The Commission typically is selected by the governor of the state.
Lottery Terminal: A computerized device used by retailers to sell lottery tickets and validate winning tickets.
Lump Sum: A single prize payment.
Multi-Jurisdiction Lottery: Lottery games that are offered in more than one gaming jurisdiction. Examples include Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max.
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North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL): A non-profit professional association representing all government-sanctioned lotteries in the United States, Canada, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Play Slip (Bet Slip): A machine-readable paper form used by players to choose their lottery numbers. A retailer can insert the play slip into a reader and the lottery terminal will generate a lottery ticket for a draw or terminal-based game.
Progressive Jackpot: A jackpot in which the value increases when there is no winning ticket for that draw.
Random Number Generator (RNG): A tightly secure computer program that randomly generates the numbers for a draw.
Responsible Gambling: A program in which lottery operators provide information and resources about responsible gambling and gambling addiction to players.
Retailer: An entity authorized and licensed by a lottery to sell lottery tickets.
Retailer Commission: The amount paid to a lottery retailer by the lottery in return for selling lottery tickets; the commission is based on the retailer’s sales, and in many cases, cashing of winning tickets.
Subscription: A paid-in-advance program in which a player purchases a specified number of lottery tickets to be drawn over a specified time period. Subscriptions may be offered to players in several ways, including via the internet where allowed by law.
Ticket Stock: Special paper used for printing tickets for terminal-based lottery games at lottery terminals.
Validation: The process at a lottery retailer or gaming centre to validate a ticket presented as a winner.
Win/Loss Statement: Compares the amount of money a player has won to the amount of money a player has spent.
Winner Awareness: Making public actual lottery winners for the purposes of promoting ticket sales.