What is a Lottery?

Lottery is a game where people buy tickets for the chance to win a prize. The prizes may be money, goods, services or even a car. Each state regulates its own lottery, which is usually delegated to a separate lottery division to administer and supervise. This division will select and license retailers, train employees to use lottery terminals, redeem tickets and pay high-tier prizes, distribute promotional materials for the lottery, and verify that both players and retailers comply with state laws and regulations.

The first recorded lotteries offering tickets for sale and prizes in the form of money were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century to raise funds for town fortifications and to help the poor. A lottery was also used in the Roman Empire as an amusement at dinner parties, with guests receiving tickets for various articles of unequal value.

Historically, states saw lotteries as a painless way to fund large social safety net programs and other government spending. In the immediate post-World War II period, lottery revenues allowed states to expand their range of public expenditures without especially onerous taxes on middle-class and working class households. But by the 1960s, that arrangement began to crumble. The public shifted its view of the lottery from a painless way to raise revenue to a dangerous form of gambling.