 Golden Casket is the government-owned lottery corporation in Queensland, Australia. They sell lottery tickets and Instant Scratch-Its tickets (scratchcards) through newsagents and other convenience stores. Lottery draws are televised on Channel Seven four nights a week.
Golden Casket makes a Net profit of over A$20M a year, from a turnover of over A$800M. Over A$200M is returned to the Queensland Government.
In April, 2007, the Queensland Government decided to sell off Golden Casket to the gaming company, Tattersall's Limited for $530 million, with the proceeds going to the Royal Children's Hospital. The Government will continue to retain ownership of the Queensland asset, and receive the $150 million held in reserves. Taxes will still be collected from Lotteries, however.
Scratchcard
A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchie, scratch-it, scratch game, or instant game) is a small token, usually made of cardboard, where one or more areas contain concealed information: they are covered by a substance (usually latex) that cannot be seen through, but can be scratched off.
Applications include gaming (especially lottery games), quizzes, and to conceal PINs for telephone calling cards and other prepaid services.
In some cases, the entire scratchable area needs to (or may be) scratched to see whether a prize has been won, or to reveal the secret code; the result for the cardholder does not change based on what portions are scratched off or not. In other cases, selected areas have to be scratched; this may apply in a quiz, where the area corresponding to the right answer is scratched, or in gaming, where depending on which areas are scratched one wins or loses. In these cases the card becomes invalid if too many areas are scratched. After losing one can scratch all areas to see if, how, and what one could have won with this card. Such cards are vulnerable to attack by devices which allow individuals to see through the concealing substance without physically disturbing it.
The original game tickets were produced using manual randomization techniques. In 1974 the American company Scientific Games led by scientist John Koza and retail promotions specialist Daniel Bower produced the first computer generated instant lottery game. In 1987, Astro-Med, Inc. of West Warwick, Rhode Island, received the U.S. Patent for the instant scratch-off lottery ticket.
Simple
scratchcards require the player to match three (or varying numbers) of the same prize amounts. If this is accomplished, they win that amount. More complicated
scratchcards have several different ways to win on one card. Other scratchcards involve matching symbols, pictures or words, or are adaptions of popular (card-)games like Blackjack, Poker or Monopoly. Games are also tied to popular themes such as Harley Davidson, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, Marvel Comics and FIFA World Cup.
There are currently three major manufacturers of game tickets: Scientific Games, with production facilities in the USA, Chile, UK and Germany; Oberthur Gaming Technologies, with production facilities in the USA, Canada, Brazil and Australia; and Pollard Banknote, with production facilities in the USA and Canada. There are several other smaller
manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia.
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network, owned by the Seven Media Group. Seven dates back to December 2, 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Sydney and Melbourne. The network is currently the largest network in the country in terms of population reach. Seven has traditionally been the second highest rating television network in Australia, after the Nine Network, the network has begun to achieve higher ratings throughout the first half of 2007 than its traditional rival.
Seven's headquarters are based in a converted warehouse at Jones Bay Wharf in Pyrmont, Sydney. National news and current affairs programming is based at studios in Martin Place, while the network's main production studios are located at Epping in Sydney's northern suburbs. In 2009, Seven will move their Epping based operations to a purpose built high-definition television production facility at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern. The majority of content is broadcast out of the network's digital Broadcast Centre in the Melbourne Docklands.
Tattersall's Limited
Tattersall's Limited (ASX: TTS) is a Victorian lottery/gaming company. Tattersall's is licensed to sell lottery related products including Super 66, Tattslotto, Oz Lotto, Instant 'scratchies' and Keno in the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria, as well as the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. Tattersall's-related products are sold in 900 venues across Tasmania and Victoria. It is commonly known as Tatts.
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