What is the Lottery?
The lottery is a form of gambling in which tokens or tickets are sold for a prize whose winner is determined by chance selection, usually by the drawing of lots. In modern times, it is often a government-sponsored enterprise that distributes prizes to its players in exchange for money or other items of value, including units in public housing, kindergarten placements, and even college scholarships.
Making decisions and determining fates by the casting of lots has a long history, with many instances in the Bible and other ancient texts. In the modern era, public lotteries became quite popular in Europe and America, where they have raised large amounts of money for everything from building the British Museum to repairing bridges and helping fund a number of American colleges (including Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, King’s College, and William and Mary).
State lotteries are typically established by state statutes, often with a monopoly on distribution. They begin with a modest number of relatively simple games, and as revenues increase they expand into a variety of new games, such as video poker or keno, and increasingly aggressive efforts at promotion. They also develop specific constituencies, ranging from convenience store operators and lottery suppliers who donate heavily to state political campaigns to teachers in those states that have earmarked a portion of lottery proceeds for education. But at a fundamental level, lottery operations are driven by the same impulses that make people play any casino game: they offer the prospect of winning big money.