Lottery, or casting of lots, is a procedure for distributing something—often money or prizes—among a group of people by chance. In the most common form, players purchase chances, called tickets, in a drawing for a prize. The odds of winning a particular ticket are determined by randomness, which can be achieved either through a physical system, such as spinning out balls with numbers on them, or by computerized methods.

Lotteries have long been an important source of public funds for various purposes. During the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British. Initially, many states used lotteries as a substitute for raising taxes, which were often controversial. The popularity of lotteries has varied over time, however. Generally, their acceptance as a legitimate method of raising revenue has depended on two key features:

The first is that state governments have viewed the proceeds as a way to avoid raising taxes while still providing essential services. This view has proven to be powerfully persuasive, even during times of economic stress.

The second feature has been the fact that the games themselves are relatively cheap to run. As a result, the profits from a given lottery can be enormous. In addition, because of their low entry costs, lotteries attract a large number of players. In general, the players are drawn from lower-income neighborhoods. The results of these and other studies have led to concerns about the regressive effect of lotteries on lower-income communities.