The History of the Lottery

Whether they play for fun or believe it’s their ticket to riches, billions of dollars are spent on lottery tickets each year in the United States. But the odds of winning are incredibly low. This can cause people to spend money they don’t have and lose what they do have, like a savings account or a mortgage. And that’s a problem.

Lotteries can be traced back centuries to when the Old Testament instructed Moses to take a census and divide the land by lot, while Roman emperors used it as a form of entertainment during Saturnalian feasts, giving away property and slaves. During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to raise funds for cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British. And, in the 1800s, state lotteries were introduced to provide revenue for a variety of public uses.

The establishment of a lottery begins with a state legitimating its own monopoly; establishing a government agency or public corporation to run the lottery rather than licensing a private firm in return for a percentage of profits; and beginning operations with a small number of relatively simple games. Over time, revenues typically expand dramatically, then level off and even decline, forcing officials to introduce new games in order to maintain or increase revenues.

Many state lotteries have evolved into a complex financial and social picture, benefitting public initiatives while also generating revenue that some see as a voluntary tax on the poor. While some argue that the existence of a lottery is an inextricable part of human nature, others see it as preying on desperation and perpetuating poverty cycles.