[2] The first Puerto Rico Lottery drawing was held on September 1, 1814 in the public plaza of San Juan.

This was spearheaded by the government of Puerto Rico and included 54 yearly prizes.

It was restarted to stop clandestine lotteries which were quite popular among the Puerto Rican people and to raise funds for community projects.

A Puerto Rican athlete headed to the Olympics could be supported by lottery winnings.

[5] In 2014, the lottery was losing millions of dollars with more money being paid out than was being received (through ticket sales).