In a lottery, bettors pay money for the chance to win a prize. Often the winnings are large sums of money, although some prizes are less valuable. Generally, the odds of winning are very long. A lot of people like to play the lottery, but it can be dangerous.
The word “lottery” comes from the Middle Dutch noun lot, meaning “fate,” derived from Old Dutch lotta, of fate or destiny;” Middle French loterie, from Lot (fate) + erie “action of drawing lots,” and probably from Late Latin literae (“letters”), as in libellulae (“letters”) or figuratum (“figure”). The founding fathers were big into the lottery: Benjamin Franklin ran a lotto to help build Boston’s Faneuil Hall, and George Washington ran one to fund a road across a mountain pass in Virginia.
Almost all state lotteries establish themselves along similar lines: the state legislates a monopoly for itself; creates a state agency or public corporation to run the lottery; starts with a modest number of relatively simple games; and then, under pressure to generate additional revenues, progressively adds new games to the mix.
The state also maintains a network of retailers to sell tickets. These retailers range from convenience stores to service stations and restaurants, as well as bowling alleys and newsstands. In 2003, according to the National Association of State Lottery Operators, there were approximately 186,000 retailers nationwide.
Most retailers use a combination of marketing strategies to obtain and retain their share of lottery sales. They may offer discounts on tickets, conduct special drawings for prizes, or promote themselves in a variety of ways including television and radio commercials and printed ads. Many also participate in multi-state lotteries, thereby expanding their potential customer base.
Because of the high prize-to-ticket ratio and the relative ease of purchasing a ticket, lotteries enjoy broad public support. In states that have lotteries, about 60% of adults report playing the game at least once a year.
Lottery officials cite these factors to convince voters and politicians that their enterprises provide a valuable source of revenue for state government without raising taxes. They often use the slogan that “even if you don’t win, you can still feel good about yourself for supporting your state.”
The fact is, however, that lottery proceeds are often diverted from other state needs, such as education or health care. Furthermore, lotteries tend to disproportionately attract players from middle-income neighborhoods, and the profits are seldom used to help the poor.
As a result, state lotteries have evolved in a piecemeal fashion and are now a classic example of a public policy being driven by the market forces that it addresses. Few, if any, have developed a coherent gambling or lottery policy. Instead, lottery critics focus on specific features of operations such as the problem of compulsive gamblers and its alleged regressive impact on low-income communities.