The official lottery is a government-run competition in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to those who hold winning numbers. These arrangements can be used to raise money for a wide range of public and private projects, including educational facilities, sports stadiums, and hospitals. In some cases, the prizes may be cash, goods, or services. The concept of a lottery is an ancient one; the first recorded reference dates back to 205 and 187 BC, when keno slips were used in China.

In modern times, state governments create lotteries by statute. They may establish the prize fund as a fixed amount of money or goods, or they may use the percentage of ticket sales method (where the prize fund is a fixed percentage of total receipts). State lotteries are designed to attract players through advertising and by allowing purchasers to select their own numbers.

While the primary reason for playing a lottery is an inextricable human impulse, nothing about the lottery is above board. Like tobacco or video-game makers, state lottery commissions are not above availing themselves of the psychology of addiction. Every detail of the lottery, from its advertising to the math behind the tickets, is designed to keep people coming back for more.

For politicians, the lottery offered a chance to expand their social safety net without raising taxes and without fear of being punished at the polls. As Cohen writes, “lotteries were a kind of budgetary miracle, an easy way to make revenue appear out of thin air.” But while the lottery does bring in some money, it also sucks tax dollars from those who can least afford it—and that is not good for anyone.