In a lottery, participants pay to enter a competition and the winners are determined by chance. Prizes may be cash or goods. Although there are many variations on the theme, to be considered a lottery a competition must have at least one stage that relies on pure chance. This could include kindergarten admissions, or a lottery to select participants to fill vacant units in a public housing block. It could also be a sports competition or a scientific experiment.
The first recorded use of a lottery was in the Chinese Han dynasty, in 205 and 187 BC, with “keno slips.” Since then lotteries have become common in most developed countries. Historically, they have been used to fund government projects and social services, including education. In recent decades, states have looked to them as ways to generate revenue without raising taxes or cutting other programs, a tactic that appeals to anti-tax voters.
A lottery is a form of gambling, but it isn’t irrational: players know that the odds of winning are long. That doesn’t mean that they don’t play; the most committed lotteriesters will spend a large portion of their discretionary income on tickets. They are likely to buy multiple tickets, and they may have quote-unquote systems based on lucky numbers or specific stores or times of day for buying tickets.
Lottery sales are sensitive to economic fluctuations; as Cohen reports, they rise when incomes decline, unemployment rates increase, and poverty levels rise. But defenders of the lottery argue that its popularity has nothing to do with the state’s fiscal health; it is a reflection of the public’s desire to improve their chances of winning and changing their lives.