An official lottery is a form of gambling in which many people purchase chances, called tickets. These numbers are then drawn randomly and, if you match them, you can win money.

In the United States, there are official lottery games in 45 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These games include the popular Mega Millions and Powerball.

There are also several consortiums of state lotteries that offer joint games spanning larger geographical footprints, and a national lottery, the Mega Millions.

The history of the lottery in the United States dates to 1776, when the Continental Congress voted to hold a lottery to raise funds for the American Revolution. The first legalized lotteries, however, quickly proved to be a failure; lottery proponents believed that they would provide enough income to fund much of a state’s budget, but, in reality, lottery proceeds were usually only a small part of a state’s revenue.

Advocates of state-run lotteries hoped that, by filling state coffers without increasing state taxes, the lottery would keep more money in the pockets of average citizens. But, as Cohen points out, it was difficult for states to balance their budgets during the nineteen-sixties under pressure from a swelling population and rising inflation, let alone the cost of war.

Moreover, lottery sales are prone to fluctuation, particularly as economic conditions change. They tend to increase when incomes fall and unemployment rises, but they decline as incomes and poverty rates stabilize. As a result, lottery products are most heavily promoted in neighborhoods where incomes and poverty rates are disproportionately poor or Black or Latino.