The lottery is an arrangement in which people pay a consideration (usually money) for the chance to win a prize based on a process that depends on random chance. Modern lotteries take many forms. Some are played with paper tickets containing numbers or symbols, and others are conducted online. Most state governments sponsor lotteries, and many private companies produce and operate them as well.

In the past, lotteries have been used to fund a wide variety of government and charitable projects, including the building of the British Museum and many public buildings in the American colonies. Benjamin Franklin held a lottery to raise funds for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, and Thomas Jefferson tried to hold one in Virginia to relieve his crushing debts.

During the heyday of lottery promotion in the early post-World War II period, states argued that the proceeds from lotteries would be a painless source of revenue to fund a broad array of state services, without increasing taxes or cutting essential programs for lower-income families. Whether this was true or not, it was certainly an appealing narrative for voters.

The growth of state-sponsored lotteries has since stalled, and the current trend is toward more sophisticated games like keno and video poker, and greater use of aggressive advertising to promote them. In addition, lotteries have been criticized for being addictive. For example, many former winners have experienced a decline in their quality of life after winning the jackpot. This is partly due to the difficulty of adjusting to a sudden windfall, but it also can be attributed to a loss of social support and other factors.