a form of gambling in which tickets are sold for the chance to win a prize by drawing lots. Several governments outlaw it, while others endorse it or organize state lotteries. The casting of lots for decisions and fates has a long record in human history, including several instances in the Bible, but public lotteries to distribute prizes have only a much more recent beginning, with the first recorded ones appearing in the Low Countries in the 15th century.
In the American colonies, lotteries were used to finance many private and public projects, including paving streets, constructing wharves, and building churches and universities. George Washington even sponsored a lottery to raise funds for the Continental Army at the outset of the Revolutionary War. In the anti-tax era that dominated the immediate post-World War II period, states came to rely on lotteries as a way of raising money without imposing especially heavy taxes.
Despite the enduring popularity of lotteries, they are not very good instruments for raising money for the state. While they attract large numbers of people, the average ticket-holder’s net winnings are only a small fraction of the total prize pool, and most lottery games carry a significant amount of overhead in advertising costs, administrative expenses, and tax revenues. In addition, many lottery officials become dependent on lottery revenues and feel compelled to increase them, a trend that can generate political pressures that can be difficult to resist.