Mobile lottery
Mobile lottery

Nearly every household in Papua New Guinea has a mobile phone, and now those phones can be used to play the lottery.

The National Gaming Control Board of Papua New Guinea has given PNG Lotto a license to operate a new mobile phone gambling lottery service. The new lottery company comes after the collapse of the country’s previous lottery provider Gold Lotto.

PNG Lotto launched in Port Moresby this week. It has teamed up with Digicel mobile phone company to offer the new mobile gambling service. Winning players will be required to present their phone number and SIM to collect their prize money.

The company will feature full financial transparency and accountability, which is what was lacking in its predecessor Gold Lotto. Ten percent of the revenue generated from the Lottery will be put towards fund sporting activities and community projects.

Like most mobile casinos, the new PNG Lotto will place strict age restrictions on their games. Nobody under the age of 18 will be allowed to play, and if they manage to get past the age filters, they won’t be able to collect any prize money.

The lottery costs about $2 to play. Users send their number picks to the central hotline via SMS. Since the lottery opened yesterday, thousands of players have already taken part in the game. The first drawing for $1 million is set to take place on November 6.