What is a Lottery?

A competition based on chance, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to the holders of numbers drawn at random. Often used as a way of raising money for a public cause. Also called a state lottery, national lottery, or simply the lottery.

The casting of lots for decisions and the determining of fates has a long record throughout human history, including several instances in the Bible. But lotteries that dish out cash as prizes are relatively recent and have become widespread in the West.

In general, the process of running a lottery is straightforward. The government creates a monopoly for itself; designates a public agency or corporation to run it (as opposed to licensing a private firm in exchange for a cut of the profits); begins with a modest number of games and prize levels; and, as revenues increase, expands by adding new games and increasing promotional expenditures. The expansion of the lottery has raised important issues. First, it is not clear whether a government function should be to promote gambling and encourage people to spend their money on it – especially when such behavior has negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers.

In a time of tight budgets, there are concerns that the growth of lottery revenues is being stifled by the need to reduce spending on other important functions. And, in an antitax era, there are concerns about the legitimacy of state governments profiting from a form of gambling that many of their constituents oppose.