A competition based on chance in which numbered tickets are drawn at random for prizes. Lottery games became popular in the 17th century and were hailed as a painless form of taxation. The oldest running lottery is the Dutch state-owned Staatsloterij, founded in 1726.
Lottery games are promoted as a way to raise money for public needs. Some of the money is paid out as prizes to winners, and some is earmarked for particular uses by legislatures. Critics charge that these earmarks distort the use of lottery revenues, as they reduce the amount that would otherwise be available to other programs. Others criticize the exploitation of vulnerable groups and problems associated with gambling, such as poverty and problem addiction.
State lotteries typically begin with a relatively small number of games and rapidly expand as revenue increases. In fact, some of the initial expansion is aimed at maintaining revenues after they reach a peak, and new games are introduced to offset this “plateau.” For example, the introduction of instant games (like keno or video poker) that don’t require the purchase of a ticket has been a significant driver of revenue growth.
While some people who buy lottery tickets do so because of a desire to become wealthy, others may do so to provide entertainment value or the sense that they are pursuing a “good cause.” Lottery mathematics indicates that purchasing a ticket is not rational according to decision models that maximize expected utility, but many people do so anyway. Some of this reflects growing income inequality and a new materialism that bolsters the notion that anyone can become rich with enough effort or luck.