In the terms and conditions at the back of the Grand Lottery ticket there is no indication of the winning odds. I suspect the chance of winning the 1st prize is more than one in a million. Could Maltco Lotteries please enlighten punters about their winning chances before they part with their €10 notes for each ticket?

Regarding the Super 5 Lottery, the odds of guessing five out of 45 numbers have greatly increased against the punters compared to the old systems of five out of 39 and later five out of 42 numbers. This has resulted in much bigger jackpots, few winning chances and more expenditure on tickets by the public.

Gambling has become part of our culture. Besides the games of chance conducted by Maltco, we have three casinos (and more to come), gambling shops, bingo and other legal and illegal games. Last year, it was reported that about €80 million were spent on Maltco games. Many millions of euros more were spent on other legal and illegal games.

There are many reasons why people gamble. The majority of gamblers do not have a gambling problem. But there is a percentage who are compulsive or pathological gamblers. Pathological gambling is associated with drug and alcohol abuse, delinquent behaviour, child poverty and broken families.