Lottery is a form of gambling that awards prizes based on chance. Prizes can range from money to goods to services. Most lottery games involve buying a ticket and selecting numbers. Typically, the more tickets purchased, the higher the chances of winning. The popularity of lotteries has led to numerous problems and concerns, including a fear that they lead to addictive gambling behavior and regressive impact on low-income groups. Despite the many issues that plague lotteries, they are still widely promoted by state governments and attract significant amounts of revenue.

While casting lots to determine a distribution of property or slaves has a long record in human history (including several instances in the Bible), public lotteries to raise funds are relatively modern. The earliest recorded public lotteries were in the 15th century, when the Low Countries introduced them to support town fortifications and help the poor. In these early lotteries, prizes were often fancy items such as dinnerware.

In colonial America, lotteries raised substantial funds for private and public ventures, such as paving streets, constructing wharves, building churches, libraries, colleges, canals, and bridges. They were also used to finance military expeditions and fortifications. During the French and Indian War, George Washington sponsored a lottery to raise money for militias.

Today, the majority of state lottery revenue comes from traditional games such as lotto and bingo. As the growth of these games has slowed, lotteries are increasingly expanding into new types of gambling, such as keno and video poker, and investing in more aggressive promotion.