Lottery is a game in which people pay to enter and have a chance to win a prize, often cash. It’s an activity with the potential to be very regressive, since poor people spend a larger share of their income on tickets than richer people do. But in general, if someone has the money to spend on a lottery ticket and is sufficiently entertained by the prospect of winning, they’ll probably do it—even if that means subsidizing the winnings of other players.

Many governments organize lotteries. The first public lotteries were promoted as a way of collecting “voluntary” taxes, and they were used to raise funds for a wide range of government purposes, including building schools, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. Private lotteries were also popular in the early American colonies, with Benjamin Franklin organizing a lottery to raise money to buy cannons for the defense of Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson advertising land and slaves as prizes in his newspaper.

The main reason state governments support lotteries is that they generate revenue, and in an era of anti-tax politics, this can be a valuable source of funding. Lottery proponents have emphasized that profits from the games will be used to benefit the public good, and this message is particularly effective during times of financial stress, when voters fear the loss of public services and are willing to tolerate lottery proceeds as an alternative to tax increases or cuts. But it’s important to note that the popularity of lotteries is independent of a state’s actual fiscal health.