Lottery is a type of gambling that offers prizes based on the outcome of a random drawing of numbers. Prizes can be cash or goods. The first recorded lotteries to offer tickets were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century to raise money for town fortifications and to help the poor. The word lottery is probably derived from the Latin lotere (“to draw lots”), and it may be a calque on Middle Dutch loterie “action of drawing lots”.
Most states in the United States have state-run lotteries. The odds of winning a lottery are quite low, and most players don’t win. However, a large portion of people buy lottery tickets at least once in their lives. These players are disproportionately lower-income, less educated, and nonwhite. They also tend to play fewer games per year, and are less likely to purchase tickets in larger jackpots.
In the United States, state-run lotteries are regulated by laws and run by a board or commission appointed by the governor. They appoint retailers to sell and redeem tickets, train employees at retail outlets to use terminals to sell and redeem tickets, provide promotional services to stores, select and license winners, pay high-tier prizes, and ensure that retailers, players, and suppliers comply with state law.
The legality of a lottery depends on the state’s constitution and its laws. The constitutions of most states require that the lottery be a game of chance and not of skill or labor.