The lottery is a procedure for distributing something, usually money or prizes, among a group of people according to chance. While making decisions and determining fates by casting lots has a long history, the modern state lottery began with New Hampshire in 1964, and has been adopted by 37 states. The lottery has become a major source of revenue for public expenditures in some states. It has been used for a wide variety of purposes, including paving roads, constructing wharves, building churches and schools, and providing health care. However, the lottery also has been criticized for being a form of regressive taxation that disproportionately burdens lower-income individuals and families.

The first state to adopt a lottery was New Hampshire in 1964, followed by New York in 1966 and Vermont in 1967. By 1975, all states except Oregon and Alaska had a state lottery. In many cases, the state lotteries were little more than traditional raffles, with the public buying tickets for a drawing that would take place weeks or even months in the future. But innovations in the 1970s greatly changed the nature of the lottery. The introduction of scratch-off tickets, for example, created instant games with smaller prize amounts and lower odds than the larger jackpots offered in the old raffles. The new games have dominated state lottery revenues ever since, and have inspired the proliferation of other forms of gambling, such as video poker and keno.

While some people will continue to play the lottery as a form of recreation, for most the primary reason is a desire to win. This explains why the lottery has remained popular throughout history, even in cultures with no history of gambling. While some states prohibit the lottery, it is legal in most others and remains a highly profitable enterprise.

Lottery advertising campaigns typically focus on two main messages. The first emphasizes the fun and excitement of playing the lottery. This is meant to persuade the public that they are not being taxed, but rather rewarded for their participation. The second message is to convince the public that they can improve their chances of winning by purchasing more tickets or by using a particular strategy, such as choosing numbers that are close together.

The popularity of the lottery has given rise to a number of special interests that lobby for government support for the industry. These include convenience store operators (who make a great deal of money from lottery ticket sales); lottery suppliers, who are heavily lobbied by the state to contribute to political campaigns; and teachers, in states where lottery revenues are earmarked for education. In addition, the lottery has developed a broad base of support in the general public. Surveys suggest that around 60% of adults report playing the lottery at least once a year. This is one of the highest rates of participation in any kind of gambling activity in the world.