Official lottery is a form of gambling wherein people can win money by matching a series of numbers. The game is usually organized by the state and the proceeds from the games are used for various public services. Lotteries are common in the United States, with 48 states operating them. Most state governments regulate the lottery, but two major multistate lotteries—Powerball and Mega Millions—serve as de facto national lotteries.

The history of the lottery dates back as early as the 15th century in the Low Countries, where a variety of towns held lottery-like events to raise funds for town fortifications and the poor. The first official government-run lotteries in the US arose in the late 1960s, as states scrambled for ways to raise revenues without alienating voters with tax increases.

Cohen writes that the lottery appealed to legislators because, in their eyes, it allowed them to keep state services running while appearing not to raise taxes. “Lotteries were a budgetary miracle, the chance for states to make hundreds of millions appear out of thin air,” he writes.

In a country where tax revolts were raging in the late-twentieth century, this argument seemed convincing. As soon as one state legalized a lottery, Cohen writes, its neighbors quickly followed suit, and the lottery swept across the nation.

New York Lottery was inaugurated in 1967. The slogan of this government-run lottery is “Your Chance of a Lifetime to Help Education” and the revenue generated by its operations are exclusively directed towards this purpose.