Lottery is a form of gambling in which people pay to be given the chance to win a prize. It is a form of gambling in which the odds of winning are proportionally higher for lower-priced tickets. People can play a lottery in order to win money, vehicles, or other items of value.

Lotteries have a long history in the United States and throughout the world. Early lotteries were used for civic purposes, such as raising funds to build town fortifications, and to help the poor. The first recorded public lotteries that sold tickets with prizes in the form of money were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century.

New Hampshire pioneered the modern era of state lotteries in 1964, and since then most states have established lotteries. In general, the state establishes a monopoly for itself (as opposed to licensing a private firm in return for a share of the profits); begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, due to constant pressure to raise revenue, progressively expands in size and complexity, including adding more games such as keno.

The public at large overwhelmingly supports the idea of a state-run lottery as long as it generates enough revenues to meet its goals, and politicians see it as a painless way to collect taxes. However, the lottery has developed extensive specific constituencies of convenience store operators (whose advertising is ubiquitous); suppliers to the lottery (whose heavy contributions to state political campaigns are reported); teachers (in states in which lotteries earmark a portion of revenues for education); etc.