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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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On-line betting : Rapido dooms Mahapola by Jayantha Sri Nissanka and Rohan Mathes The Mahapola Trust Fund is likely to collapse in the face of a new gambling game called "Rapido" launched as an on-line lottery by an American company. 'Rapido' an on-line system installed in the main cities would attract more people as they could bet between Rs.10 and Rs.100 and expect the results within an hour.It will result in the gradual decrease in the sale of the normal lottery tickets that now pump in huge sums towards Mahapola via the President's fund. The largest component of funds to the President's Fund is channelled through the National Lotteries Board and the Development Lotteries Board which sell 14 types of lottery tickets a week. United Lottery Sales Agents' Association President H. M. N. B. Herath warns that the new move to entrust the American firm to collect funds under the Rapido project looks disastrous not only to the Mahapola Trust Fund but also to the school going children. Rapido is the name introduced by the authorities as a cover to hide the real name of the game. The real name is "Keno" which is rampant in every leading Casino in the world for gamblers. This is a famous game in Casinos in Las Vegas, USA. The NLB official said that the Keno name was changed to Rapido to avoid mass protests that might arise. Two companies (American and Norwegian) have started the Rapido game, in collaboration with the National Lotteries Board. The Mahapola Lottery which was initiated to find funds for undergraduates will be hereafter managed by one of them, the GTECH Lanka (Private) Ltd a fully owned subsidiary of GTECH Corporation of the United States. The Rapido game, quite similar to the Jackpot menace that attracted the youth a decade ago until late President R. Premadasa eliminated it, has once again encroached locations closer to leading schools. Of the 500 machines installed last week in the guise of an on-line lottery, one was installed in close proximity to Zahira College and Ananda College, Colombo. The business plan of the two companies is to install 2200 machines in every major city in the country. The only difference between Jackpot and Rapido is that in Jackpot, tokens have to be put into the machine, but in Rapido the operator will give a receipt containing the numbers the gambler selected. The Companies plan to make it easy for people to bet on Rapido in future by telephone. Herath requests parents and wives to protect their children and husbands from the Rapido game. President Premadasa in 1992 took the initiative to destroy Jackpot machines deporting famous Casino trafficker Joe Sim. But again jackpot returned to Sri Lanka in another form during the last UNP regime. |
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