The Official lottery app offers fun, convenience, and information to Lottery players on the go. It is free to download*. The New York Lottery began in 1967 and has raised billions for education. If you win the jackpot, your prize will be withheld based on New York state tax laws.

In the mid-1960s, Cohen writes, growing awareness about all the money to be made in gambling combined with a crisis in state funding. A burgeoning population and rising inflation created budgetary pressures that threatened to cripple many states, especially those with generous social safety nets. It became difficult to balance the books without raising taxes or cutting services, both of which were very unpopular with voters.

Advocates of state-run lotteries seized the moment, arguing that since people are going to gamble anyway, governments might as well make some money off it. The argument worked, at least until devout Protestants from the religious right complained that state-sanctioned gambling was morally wrong.

When opponents began to challenge the amount of money that could be expected to flow from a lottery, legalization advocates responded by narrowing their arguments. They no longer argued that a lottery would float an entire state budget; instead they said it would cover a single line item, invariably one of the most popular and nonpartisan government services — such as education, elder care, or public parks. This approach made campaigning for the lottery much easier; it was no longer a vote against gambling but a vote in favor of something the public overwhelmingly favored.