Lottery
A competition based on chance, in which tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to the holders of numbered tickets drawn at random. Lotteries are sometimes organized as a means of raising money for state or charitable purposes.
People play the lottery for all kinds of reasons, from a desire to get rich to an inexplicable sense of fate that they will win big. It may be a form of gambling, but it is more often seen as a painless way to raise funds for public projects. Its roots go back centuries, with Moses instructed to use it in the Old Testament and Roman emperors distributing land and slaves by the draw of lots.
Regardless of what is being raffled off, the basic structure of the lottery remains the same: A pool is created from all stakes placed and a percentage is taken out as organizing costs and profits for the organizer or sponsor. The remainder is then offered as prizes, usually with the choice of several large prizes or many smaller ones.
Lotteries are great for states, whose coffers swell from ticket sales and winnings. But they also come with a cost: Studies have found that lottery revenue is disproportionately concentrated in poor neighborhoods and among low-income and minority residents. And while the messages pushed by lottery officials try to obscure this, they are resonating with a public that believes it is rightly doing its civic duty by buying a ticket.
