Lottery is a game in which tickets are sold for the chance to win a prize. Prizes may be money or goods. The first known lotteries were held in the Roman Empire, mainly as an amusement during dinner parties. Tickets were given to all attendees, and the prizes were fancy items such as dinnerware. In the 17th century, the Low Countries introduced state-run lotteries with ticket sales for cash prizes, and they became very popular. They were hailed as a painless form of taxation and a good way to raise funds for the poor.

In the immediate post-World War II period, many states adopted lotteries as a way to expand their array of social safety net programs without imposing particularly onerous taxes on working class and middle class taxpayers. This policy proved durable for some time.

But lottery revenues quickly began to level off and eventually decline, requiring the introduction of new games to maintain or increase participation. Lottery revenues are often spent on convenience store operators (a lucrative source of sales for the tickets), suppliers (who contribute heavily to state political campaigns) and teachers, who in some states receive a significant share of lottery profits earmarked for them.

There are also some clear socio-economic patterns in lottery play: men tend to be more enthusiastic players than women; blacks and Hispanics play more frequently than whites; and younger and older people play less regularly than those in the middle age range. The reason for this is not clear, but it may be related to income, as people in lower socio-economic classes are likely to spend more on the lottery than those in higher brackets.