A lottery is a scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance. The word is also used figuratively to refer to any event or activity that has an outcome that depends on fate: ‘Life’s a lottery’, they say, ‘you never know what luck might bring you next.’

Lotteries have been around for a long time, although the casting of lots to determine decisions and fates has a much longer history. The first recorded public lottery in the West was held under the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar to raise money for municipal repairs in Rome. Lotteries became more common in the Low Countries of Europe in the 15th century, where town records from Ghent, Utrecht and Bruges indicate that they were being used to fund wall building and to help the poor.

Modern state lotteries are typically run by a commission or board that establishes lottery laws, selects and trains retailers to sell and redeem tickets, promotes the games, conducts educational and informational programs and distributes winning tickets. Some states have created separate divisions to handle specific aspects of lottery operations, such as the selection of lottery retailers and vendors; promoting the games through television and radio commercials; training employees of lottery retailers to use ticket scanners and redemption machines; and paying high-tier prizes.

Many critics argue that state lotteries are inherently problematic because they entice people to spend more than they can afford to win a prize that, by definition, is unlikely to be worth the money. They also point to evidence that the profits from the games benefit a small group of winners at the expense of the general population, and they express concern about the regressive effects of state lotteries on lower-income groups.