A competition based on chance, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to the holders of numbers drawn at random. Lotteries are often held to raise money for government projects, such as schools or highways. They can also be used to allocate a limited number of spaces in universities, employment opportunities or other positions.

The word lottery comes from the Latin lotto, meaning ‘fate’ or ‘luck’. People have been attempting to influence their fortunes through chance for millennia, with the earliest recorded lotteries dating back to the 15th century in the Low Countries. These were aimed at raising funds for town fortifications and poor relief, although records show that they were also played for sporting events.

Today, most state lotteries are run as a business with the aim of maximising profits. This focus on generating revenues has led to an expansion in the range of games offered and an increasing emphasis on advertising. This has raised questions about the extent to which the promotion of gambling undermines the public interest, in terms of its impact on the poor and compulsive gamblers.

In addition, the regressive nature of lotteries is often a concern, as the bottom quintile of income earners are the most likely to play, spending a higher percentage of their income on tickets than any other group. These concerns have prompted some states to restrict the advertising of lotteries and to limit the amount that can be spent on tickets.

Despite these concerns, the use of lotteries to generate revenue has become increasingly popular in many countries. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress held a lottery to fund the military and Benjamin Franklin tried to run a public lottery to fund cannons for the city of Philadelphia. Today, most states offer a state lottery or a multistate game such as Powerball or Mega Millions. These have generated billions in prize money and have proved to be an effective way to finance state budgets, bypassing the need for tax increases. This is largely because of the public’s appetite for a chance to win big.