Lottery is a game of chance in which people buy tickets and have machines randomly select numbers for them. If the numbers match those drawn, the winner gets a prize. The odds of winning depend on how many numbers are chosen and on the overall amount of money invested in tickets. Generally, the more numbers that are picked, the lower the chances of winning.

Although determining fates and distributing property by drawing lots has a long record in human history—including several instances in the Bible—the lottery is of more recent origin, becoming popular during the 17th century in Europe and America, where it was hailed as a painless form of taxation. In the early American colonies, it was used to finance a wide range of public usages, including paving streets and building wharves. Benjamin Franklin ran a lottery to raise funds for cannons for the defense of Philadelphia, and George Washington sponsored a lottery to alleviate his crushing debts.

State lotteries are typically established as a state-controlled monopoly, and their operations are designed to maximize revenue. Consequently, their advertising is necessarily focused on persuading target groups to spend their money. The question is whether such promotion of gambling runs counter to the public interest. State officials may also face the dilemma of having to balance revenues with broader policy concerns, such as how to deal with poor and problem gamblers. In practice, however, these policy decisions are often overtaken by the continuing evolution of the lottery industry.