Six Years In, PLUS Lotto is Still Going Strong

Anyone who works in e-commerce knows how valuable six years of experience can be.

In the ever-changing and always evolving world of the Internet, six years can equal 20 in the bricks-and-mortar world.

PLUS Lotto is using the vast experience it gained in being the first online lottery in 1995 as it continues to grow and offer new options to the Internet lottery community.

The company is an arm of the International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation. Internet lottery operator Zabadoo handles the development and promotion of the branded strategy for ILLF as well as promotion and management of PLUS Lotto.

PLUS Lotto's most recent invention, Own Branding lotteries, is in high demand. The new option, along with the company's 300th draw, which was held last month, are clear signs of a bright future.

Adriaan Brink, chief executive of Zabadoo, said PLUS Lotto has been able to adapt to the demands of both interactive lottery players and operators.

"We have made a number of changes to the technology, primarily introducing dollars as a new currency--Euros and GBP will be added soon--and also our great new flash scratchies," he said.

The branded concept is in great demand, said Brink, and not just in traditional gaming circles. The company has agreed to operate a lottery site with all winnings going to the World Wildlife Foundation. The site will launch this week at wildlifewins.com.

In providing a site that accommodates numerous brands, PLUS Lotto is also able to coordinate on jackpots with other sites in its camp.

"Clearly the more sites that participate in the same wide-area progressive jackpot games the better they work," he said. "With our branding concept we are seeing that start to happen now in our network."

The company was given a license to operate the Liechtenstein online lottery in 1995. That deal opened up plenty of avenues, in Europe and elsewhere, for the company to grow. Brink said that because of its roots, PLUS Lotto doesn't have a large base of U.S. players, although that is starting to change.

"I think we are fairly representative of the Internet with perhaps a larger non-U.S. focus than most casinos," he said. "The fact that we support European currencies and languages together with a European licensing jurisdiction strengthens our proposition for the European markets."

Staying power is one thing in e-commerce. Staying power coupled with years of experience can go along way, which is something that Brink and his firm have learned firsthand.

"We have built a large and loyal client base over the years, and, more importantly, have acquired the knowledge and experience to be able to offer the service that our brand clients expect from us," he said. "Our infrastructure, funds processing, customer support and software development abilities are now quite advanced."

Like many in the interactive gaming business, Brink wouldn't divulge how many regular players PLUS Lotto has accumulated, but did say they have "a large established player base, many going back to the early days," and that it continues to grow to the company's satisfaction.

Brink said although things are looking positive for PLUS Lotto, no one in the company is standing pat. Efforts are in full swing to bring more brands on board, and, with them, bigger jackpots, Brink said.

"The rise in jackpots will particularly be seen in the instant and hourly games," he said. "They will move more quickly. We will also be bringing on more games soon."

With new currencies and languages in the mix, PLUS Lotto is clearly a company with global reach.

"With our integrated multi-currency, multi-lingual support we are truly international," Brink said.