The lottery is one of America’s most popular forms of gambling, with people spending upwards of $100 billion on tickets every year. Lottery games have broad public support; a survey found that 60% of adults play at least once a year. The games also cultivate extensive, specific constituencies: convenience store operators (lotteries often advertise through their outlets); lottery suppliers and retailers; teachers (in states where revenues are earmarked for education); state legislators; and, of course, the players themselves, who typically spend a significant portion of their incomes on tickets.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand the limitations of lotteries and their effects on society. At their core, they rely on two messages: one that playing the lottery is fun, and the other that it is a great way to raise money for public purposes without imposing excessively heavy taxes on the middle class and working class. Both of these messages obscure the regressive nature of the lottery and its costs to taxpayers.

The word “lottery” derives from the Dutch noun lot, meaning fate or chance. The earliest state-sponsored lotteries, however, were not designed to determine fate; rather, they were a painless alternative to taxation. The first known European lottery was a game played at Saturnalian parties, where guests received tickets for various articles of unequal value, such as dinnerware. The prize money was then awarded to the ticket holders in proportion to their number of tickets. In the modern era, lottery games are established through a process that is remarkably consistent across states: a state legislates a monopoly; establishes a public corporation or agency to run it; begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, due to constant pressure for additional revenues, progressively expands the lottery in size and complexity, particularly by adding new games.