A lottery is a game in which numbers are drawn at random to determine winners and prizes, usually money. It is a popular way for governments to raise funds.

A lottery game is not necessarily a numbers game: Any competition that requires payment to enter and in which entrants’ names are drawn to win is a lottery, even if the contestants must use skill in later stages. However, the term is generally used to describe games in which the first stage relies on pure chance.

The origins of lotteries date back to Roman times, when they were often played as a form of entertainment at dinner parties. Participants would write their names on a ticket, which was then deposited for shuffling and selection in the draw. The bettor was responsible for determining later whether his ticket was among the winning ones, though in some cases, the identities of the bettors were recorded and payment made for tickets that were selected.

Benjamin Franklin and George Washington both organized lotteries, with the proceeds raising money for various projects. In the early American republic, Congress used lotteries to fund the Continental Army. Lottery prizes were sometimes valuable items, such as land or slaves, but the vast majority of prizes were cash. Today, state-sponsored lotteries offer a variety of games with increasingly complex rules and bigger jackpots.