Lottery is a popular form of gambling in which numbered tickets are sold for the chance to win a prize, often money. The prizes are allocated by a process that relies wholly on chance. State governments regulate lotteries by enacting laws and by delegating to lottery commissions the task of selecting and licensing retailers, training employees to operate lottery terminals, selling and redeeming tickets, paying high-tier prizes, and assisting retailers in promoting lotteries. Most states also impose restrictions on the sale of tickets to minors.
Lotteries have long been a major source of public revenue in many nations. They are relatively easy to organize and popular with the public, making them a painless method of raising funds. Lottery profits can be substantial if ticket sales are carefully managed. The word lottery is probably derived from the Dutch noun lot, meaning “fate,” or from French loterie, which was probably a calque on Middle Dutch lotinge.
There are many different types of lotteries, from the simplest games where bettors choose their own numbers to those in which a computer selects the winners. All lotteries require some means of recording the identities of bettors, their amounts staked, and the number(s) they have selected or otherwise marked. Most modern lotteries use computers to record the results of the drawing.
Critics charge that lotteries are addictive and that winning the jackpot can have devastating consequences on a winner’s quality of life. Others complain that advertising is deceptive and exaggerates the odds of winning and the amount of money that can be won (although prize payouts are usually spread over several years to protect winners from inflation and taxes). The controversy over lotteries has shifted in recent decades from arguments for or against their introduction to the specific features of their operations.