Lottery is a gambling game in which players buy tickets for chances to win cash or other prizes. Prize money is distributed through drawings, in which numbers are randomly selected by machines. People can choose their own numbers or opt for “quick pick,” in which machines select a random group of numbers. Some people buy lots of tickets and hope to rewrite their lives by winning big amounts. Others play for the fun of it or to pass the time.

In colonial-era America, lotteries were used to raise funds for paving streets, building wharves and church buildings. George Washington even sponsored a lottery in 1768 to build a road across the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lotteries continue to be popular in the US, with state-run games raising millions of dollars every year.

While the casting of lots has a long history (including several instances in the Bible), lotteries that distribute cash prizes are much more recent. The first public lottery with prize money was probably in the Low Countries in the 15th century, and was used to raise funds for town fortifications and to help the poor.

States began introducing lotteries after World War II, when they were perceived as a way to expand their social safety net without onerous taxation on the middle class and working classes. However, lottery revenues typically expand dramatically upon introduction, then begin to level off or decline. Lottery officials must constantly introduce new games in order to keep revenues up, which leads to high levels of boredom with the game among the general public.