Lottery is a form of gambling that pays out prize money based on a random drawing of numbers. Making decisions and determining fates by the casting of lots has a long history in human culture (there are several instances in the Bible) but public lottery games for material gain are somewhat more recent, with some of the first recorded such events occurring during Augustus Caesar’s reign to finance municipal repairs in Rome and in 1466 in Bruges, Belgium. In colonial-era America, lottery games were common, and George Washington even sponsored a lottery to help fund the construction of colleges such as Harvard and Yale.
In the United States, lottery games have become ubiquitous, with 37 states and the District of Columbia offering them to the public. While there are many different types of lotteries, the game most associated with the lottery in the general public’s mind is the multi-state Powerball jackpot, which often rises into the millions and even billions. There are also smaller state-sponsored lotteries that offer lower jackpot prizes but still generate considerable revenue.
Typically, state lotteries sell tickets for a drawing that occurs at some future date in the distant future, and most people purchase multiple tickets each week. To generate revenues, state lotteries expand their offerings with new games such as keno and video poker, as well as by aggressively advertising their products. Historically, lottery revenues increase dramatically after an initial period of growth and then level off or decline. This “boredom” factor has prompted the introduction of ever-new games to maintain and boost lottery revenues.
