Lottery is a form of gambling where people pay money for a chance to win a prize. The practice of determining property distributions and other fates by lot has a long history (including several instances in the Bible), but lottery games for material gain are comparatively recent, dating to the 15th century. Modern examples include state-sponsored lotteries, military conscription, commercial promotions in which prizes are given away, and the selection of jurors by lottery. Lottery play is also prevalent in professional sports and is common in some government-sponsored social programs.
Lotteries are a big business, and the advertising for them is designed to persuade people to spend their hard-earned money on tickets that have little or no chance of winning. As a result, they are widely perceived to promote gambling and have negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers.
In addition to the profits made by state governments, lottery revenues benefit a host of other special interests: convenience store operators and lottery suppliers (heavy contributions by these businesses to state political campaigns are often reported); teachers in states where lottery funds are earmarked for education; and legislators who look on the games as a source of painless revenue. Aside from those aforementioned special interests, lottery players are a very diverse group of citizens who buy billions of dollars in tickets each year.
Approximately half of all lottery ticket purchases go into the prize pool, while the rest is allocated to various administrative and vendor costs as well as to whatever projects individual states designate. One popular state project is funding groups that help people break free from gambling addictions. In addition, many states use lottery proceeds to supplement general fund appropriations for things like roadwork and bridge repairs, police force and other social services, and school funding.
