Lotteries are government-approved, regulated games of chance. In the United States, there are a few types of official lottery: state-controlled lotteries, which raise money to support local public services like schools; multi-state, national lotteries, which operate across multiple states; and private lotteries, which sell tickets for the sole purpose of raising money. Official lotteries are strictly regulated, and laws regarding fraud, forgery and theft apply. In addition, winners of lotteries are often publicly announced and receive substantial cash prizes.

In its earliest days, the official lottery was a way for towns to raise money for building walls and town fortifications, but it was later used to pay for public works projects, including roads and bridges. The first recorded lotteries to offer tickets for sale with a prize of money were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century, according to town records from Ghent, Utrecht and Bruges.

Politicians faced with budgetary crises seized upon lotteries as “budgetary miracles,” Cohen writes, because they offered a solution to fiscal woes that would not enrage an anti-tax electorate. Lottery promotion wildly inflated the impact of winnings on state finances, and the truth is that, at best, lottery revenue accounts for only about one per cent of all state spending.

As the popularity of lottery games grew, many states began to organize their own versions. It’s a pattern that has continued to this day. As soon as a state legalizes lottery games, its bordering neighbors tend to follow suit within a few years.