Official lottery is a form of gambling in which tickets are sold for a chance to win prizes. State governments usually regulate lotteries, and they set rules for how to play them, including how much to charge for a ticket, what kind of prize a winner can expect to receive, how to determine winners, and whether to allow players to choose their own numbers.

The most popular official lottery games are Powerball and Mega Millions, both of which feature multi-million dollar jackpots. Despite the popularity of these lotteries, many people have a strong moral objection to them. They argue that lotteries violate the principle of voluntary taxation by requiring people to pay for the illusory hope of winning. They also claim that they exploit the poor and working classes. In addition, they claim that the existence of lotteries is an unseemly form of regressive taxation, in which different taxpayers are taxed at disproportionate rates.

Lotteries have been around for thousands of years. The earliest records come from ancient China, where the Chinese Han dynasty ran a number lottery to fund public projects. Later, Europeans began to use them for charitable purposes and as a way to raise money for wars.

In the United States, state governments run official lotteries. The founding fathers used them to help finance public works, and the country’s first federal government ran a lottery in 1748 to fund militia training. Today, there are over 30 official state lotteries. In addition, people can buy tickets online and participate in international lotteries.