Lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn to determine the winner of a prize. The concept of distributing property and wealth by lot has been around for centuries, with biblical examples (including Moses being instructed to take a census and divide the land amongst his people) and Roman emperors giving away slaves and property through lottery-like games called apophoretas. In colonial America, lotteries were very popular and helped fund a variety of private and public ventures including roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, and bridges. The founding fathers were big into them too, with Benjamin Franklin running a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution and George Washington ran one in 1767 to help finance a road over a mountain pass in Virginia.

Today, state lotteries are largely a means of raising revenue for government programs. They’re promoted as a painless source of revenue that benefits all citizens. Politicians love them because they’re easy to run, cheap to operate, and appeal to the public’s sense of whimsy. And for players, it’s a fun way to spend a few dollars without having to feel like they’re being taxed.

But there’s a hidden catch: Lottery revenues typically expand rapidly when they first come on the scene, then level off or even decline. And while the gamblers who play in the lottery may have the best of intentions, they contribute billions to government coffers that could be better spent on things like education, health care, or retirement. What’s more, the players are disproportionately lower-income and less educated, and the games are rife with fraud, corruption, and mismanagement.