A lottery is a game in which tokens or pieces of paper are distributed, and the winner is determined by drawing lots. Usually the prize is cash or goods. In other cases the prize fund is a fixed percentage of ticket sales. In either case the organizer is at risk if there are not enough tickets sold to cover the prize fund.
Lottery games have been around since ancient times. Moses instructed the people of Israel to divide land by lot, and Roman emperors gave away property and slaves through lotteries held at dinner parties and other festivities. Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia, and George Washington was an organizer for a slavery lottery that advertised land and slaves as prizes in the Virginia Gazette.
The economic rationality of a lottery depends on the combined expected utility of monetary and non-monetary benefits. If the entertainment value of playing is high enough, then the disutility of a monetary loss can be outweighed by the desire to win. This is why lottery play is a gamble: There is always the possibility of a big payout that can change your life for the better.
But there are moral arguments against state-sponsored lotteries, too. One is that they violate the notion of voluntary taxation, by imposing a disproportionate burden on the poor and working classes. The other is that they prey on the irrational hope of winning, which can make people waste a great deal of time and resources, and even worsen their financial situations.