What is a Lottery?

A lottery is a game of chance in which numbered tickets are sold for a prize and winners are selected at random. Often, these games are run by state or national governments to raise money for various purposes. They can also be used in decision-making situations where the allocation of scarce resources is important, such as sports team drafts or the distribution of medical treatments.

A slew of factors go into why people buy tickets, says Fern Kazlow, a New York City-based clinical psychotherapist. For example, lottery marketing campaigns expertly capitalize on fear of missing out — FOMO. “When the jackpot is big, the messages are on TV, radio and billboards, making the opportunity seem both realistic and life-changing,” she explains. Plus, it’s cheap to play. “On average, a ticket costs about the same as a cup of coffee,” says Denver-based consumer psychologist Adam Ortman.

In the United States, state lotteries are thriving, with Americans spending an estimated $100 billion per year on their chances to become rich. But there was a time when lotteries weren’t so popular, particularly among Puritans and other moralists who viewed gambling as sinful. The first modern state lottery was introduced in 1967, when New Hampshire started a draw to fund education and other government services without additional taxes. The concept was quickly adapted by other states and eventually spread to 45 of them.