Lottery is a form of gambling where people buy tickets for the chance to win prizes based on numbers randomly drawn by machines. Lottery games can take many forms, including state-sponsored games that award large cash prizes or goods like cars and houses, and private games such as raffles. The word “lottery” probably derives from Middle Dutch loterie, via the French word lot, which itself might be a calque on Middle English lotinge, meaning “action of drawing lots.”

State-sponsored lotteries began appearing in Europe during the early sixteenth century. In America, they became popular as a mechanism for collecting voluntary taxes, enabling the establishment of Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, William and Mary, Union, and Brown colleges. The Continental Congress voted to establish a lottery to raise money for the revolution, but the scheme was abandoned. Privately organized lotteries continued to be common, however, and by the nineteenth century they had become widely popular.

People who play lotteries do so for a number of reasons, but three in particular are important:

One message is the promise of instant riches, which is a powerful temptation at a time of widespread inequality and limited social mobility. Lottery ads bombard the public with images of huge jackpots, a reminder that winning is possible.

The second message is that playing the lottery is a good thing because it provides revenue for the state, which can be used to provide services such as health care and education. This message obscures the fact that lotteries are regressive and target low-income, less educated, nonwhite, and male Americans.