Lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn at random for the award of prizes. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to some extent by organizing state or national lotteries. The prizes range from cash to merchandise or services. In most lotteries, profits for the lottery promoter and the costs of promotion are deducted from the total prize pool before the distribution of the winning tickets. Lottery revenues typically expand rapidly upon their introduction, then level off or even decline and must be maintained through the continual introduction of new games to attract players.
The casting of lots to make decisions or determine fates has a long record in human history, including several instances in the Bible. The first recorded public lotteries were held during the Roman Empire, where ticket holders hoped to win items of unequal value such as dinnerware. Later, a lottery was used to distribute a portion of the income from taxes collected by a government. During colonial America, lotteries played an important role in the financing of private and public projects, including roads, libraries, schools, canals, and bridges.
Today, the majority of state-sponsored lotteries are run as fixed-prize games in which a specified number of top prizes is awarded to those who match all of the numbers on their playslip. A smaller percentage of states offer a daily numbers game in which the player selects one to five numbers. Most of these games are played by middle-income citizens, and less frequently by poorer citizens. A 1970 study by Clotfelter and Cook found that the rich participate in lotteries at a rate far higher than their percentage of the population, while the poor play at a significantly lower rate.
