When a lottery has been conducted, tickets are sold for a chance to win a prize of money or goods. The chances of winning are determined by the number of tickets purchased and the amount of money collected from the sale of the tickets. The term lottery comes from the Dutch word lot, meaning “fate”. The first public lotteries were held in the Low Countries (Ghent, Utrecht, Bruges) in the 15th century to raise funds for town fortifications or to help the poor.

Throughout history, people have used lots to distribute property or slaves. A famous example of this is the biblical story of the king who divided his land among his servants by lot (Numbers 26:55-56) and the Roman emperor who gave away property to his guests during Saturnalian feasts by drawing lots on pieces of wood (apophoreta).

In colonial America, the first state-sponsored lotteries were established to generate revenues for road improvements and other infrastructure projects. Later, they became a popular form of fundraising for higher education and other public use projects. George Washington sponsored a lottery in 1768 to build roads across the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Once established, a state lottery is often hard to abolish. State governments have come to rely on the painless revenue of these games, and there are constant pressures for them to increase their sizes and complexity. Moreover, most state lottery officials lack the oversight of the legislative or executive branches and are thus largely self-serving.