The lottery is a state-sanctioned form of gambling that involves people buying tickets and winning prizes by matching a series of numbers. A number of states have lotteries, which are usually drawn at least once a week. The popularity of the games has increased dramatically since the 1970s. The industry has become increasingly sophisticated and innovative, but critics have raised concerns about the effects on compulsive gamblers, the regressive impact on low-income families, and other issues. Government officials have also been pressured to increase revenues from the lotteries, so they have tended to expand the games available to maintain or increase sales.

In the Roman Empire, lottery games were often held at dinner parties as an amusement, with each guest receiving a ticket and then winning a prize—typically fancy dinnerware—by drawing lots. In the 17th century, lottery games were common in the Netherlands to raise money for poor relief and other public uses. In America, the National Basketball Association holds a lottery each year to determine the first draft pick for its 14 teams that did not make the playoffs the previous season.

State lotteries raise significant sums and are an important source of revenue for states. While most of these proceeds are paid out as prizes, administrators keep a portion to cover administrative costs and fund other initiatives. The remainder is distributed to a variety of groups: retailers, who receive commissions; lottery suppliers, who have become powerful political actors by contributing heavily to supplier-friendly state campaigns; educators (in those states that earmark lottery revenues for education); and others.