Lottery is a game in which people pay small amounts of money to buy a chance to win a large prize. Prizes can range from cars to houses to cash, and the odds of winning vary wildly depending on the number of tickets sold and the total amount of money up for grabs. Many states and the District of Columbia run lottery games.

Lotteries are usually run as business enterprises, and their marketing campaigns seek to maximize ticket sales by appealing to a particular audience. Some critics charge that these campaigns are deceptive, typically presenting misrepresentative or even misleading information. For example, some advertisements claim that a winner will receive a lump sum payment, while most winners will actually receive the prize in annual installments over 20 years (with inflation and taxes dramatically eroding the value of the initial award).

The modern lottery has its origins in the Middle Ages, when town records from Flanders show public lotteries used to raise money for town fortifications and the poor. The word lottery comes from the Dutch noun lot, meaning “fate” or “luck,” and the first state-sponsored lotteries were probably established in the 15th century.

In the United States, state-run lotteries are a popular source of tax revenue. Politicians like to promote them as an alternative to raising general-purpose taxes, because they involve voters voluntarily spending their money in return for a public benefit. But research shows that state lotteries tend to generate disproportionately high levels of gambling among low-income residents, and rely on new game innovations to maintain or increase revenues.