EUROPEAN STATE LOTTERIES AND TOTO ASSOCIATION

Editorial
The evolution of scratch off games
and a taste of our next seminars
Scratch cards have been a very popular
form of games, mainly because they
present an opportunity to win instantly
with a low initial investment. Since its
advent, the scratch off ticket has taken
many forms, included many different
prize structures and a variety of versions
– the latest being online scratchies. There
also is a trend in some countries towards
more expensive scratch tickets that offer
high jackpots.
The history of instant scratch games is
relatively modern, making its first appearance
in 1974 in the US, with a game
launched by the Massachusetts State
Lottery. In 1978, there was another first
for instant games, when the Loterie Romande
of Switzerland introduced the
first scratch off ticket in Europe. Since
then, instant games have been consistently
well received by players and in the
seventies, eighties and early nineties;
most European Lotteries have opted for
this novel form of playing. We are pleased
to present you in this issue of Panorama
an evaluation, made by various Lotteries,
of their experiences with this game and
the different approaches taken to keep a
high level of interest in that game.
2008 has been a very busy year for our
seminars and will continue to be until
December. We are proud to report that
our meetings are getting more and more
attention, so don’t forget the next seminar
on Responsible Gaming, which we
organize in partnership with WLA and
that promises to be highly informative.
Definitely this year, the palm goes to
ELU (European Lottery University) that
has beat all records with 48 attendees
coming from all over, including Canada
and Africa. We are already gearing up
for 2009 and the first seminar will tackle
traditional approach versus avant-garde
3
P AN RAMA
campaigns in the Communication and
Advertising field. This joint WLA/EL Marketing
reunion will take place as usual in
London, and participants will have an opportunity
to visit ICE, the largest International
Casino & Gaming Exhibitions.
All information are available in due
time in our website, in order to allow
you to book in advance your travel
schedule.
I would like to remind our Members that
we are now working on our new 2007
report ELISE, which will be finalized in
November. Also, a seminar on Info Sharing
is being worked out and further detailed
information will be sent later. If any
Lottery is willing to organize this event,
please contact the Secretariat General.
I hope you will enjoy this issue and I look
forward to seeing you at our next seminar.
Bernadette Lobjois
Secretary General