Official lottery is a game of chance in which tickets are sold for a prize that can be anything from cash to goods, such as a car. The first lotteries were recorded in the Low Countries in the 15th century, where they raised funds to build town fortifications and help the poor.

States enact lotteries for a variety of reasons, but the most common is that they are desperate for revenue. There’s also the belief that gambling is inevitable, and if you can’t stop people from playing, you might as well make some money on it. But it’s not just that state lotteries raise billions of dollars for government services; they are also creating generations of new gamblers and dangling the promise of instant riches in an age of inequality and limited social mobility.

What we don’t talk about enough is that most state lottery revenues end up being a drop in the bucket for actual state governments, and that the message they’re spreading is essentially “it’s okay to gamble because you’re helping the children.”

This app makes it easy to find retailers near you, purchase your ticket, check the results and get email confirmation with your ticket serial number. Play responsibly, folks. (Msg & data rates may apply.) *Please note, the winning numbers and other information posted on this website are the official results from the lottery drawing under the supervision of an independent accounting firm. Any discrepancies will be corrected.