Lotteries are a form of gambling and so those wishing to run them must ensure that children and other vulnerable people are not exploited by their lottery. Generally, the minimum age for participation in a lottery is 16 years of age, except for certain exempt lotteries such as incidental non-commercial lotteries, private, work and residents' lotteries.
A lottery is defined as an arrangement where people pay to participate for the chance of winning a prize and is either simple or complex.
A simple lottery is where:
- persons are required to pay to participate
- 1 or more prizes are allocated to the participants
- prizes are allocated wholly by chance.
A complex lottery is where:
- persons are required to pay to participate
- 1 or more prizes are allocated to the participants
- the prizes are allocated by a series of processes
- the first of these processes relies wholly on chance.
The Gambling Commission has issued a code of practice for lotteries.