Official lottery is a state-controlled gambling game in which players can win a prize based on random drawing. The prizes may be cash or goods. Lotteries are legal in most states, though some do not permit them to be offered by private companies. In the United States, lottery profits are usually designated for education, though other uses have been proposed. Several lottery games are operated in the United States, including the Mega Millions and Powerball.

The first recorded instances of a lottery date back to the Han dynasty in China (205–187 BC). The Chinese Book of Songs (2nd millennium BC) mentions “keno slips” that were used to determine the winners in various government projects, including building fortifications and providing charity for the poor.

In the early 1800s, a local lottery was established in Charleston, South Carolina. Denmark Vesey, an enslaved person, won the prize and was able to buy his freedom. However, the same moral and religious sensibilities that would lead to prohibition began to turn against gambling of all kinds around this time.

The modern lottery is run as a business by states and has no oversight from anyone who does not have a financial stake in it making more money. The message lotteries rely on is that even if you lose, you should feel good because you did your civic duty to help the state. This is similar to the message sports betting companies are now promoting, despite the fact that, like lottery profits, most of the money that goes into sports betting isn’t coming from players.