The lottery is a game in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded to the holders of those numbers. The prize money is distributed by the state or a public corporation (as opposed to private companies that contract with the states to run lotteries). The lottery is usually played by individuals, and prizes are based on chance rather than skill.

In the United States, where lottery play is a popular pastime, 44 of 50 states run state-sponsored lotteries. In addition to distributing the prize money, state lotteries set up and manage gaming machines, select retailers to sell tickets, promote the games, collect and validate winning ticket entries, pay high-tier prizes, and comply with federal and state gambling laws.

Lottery arose in the immediate post-World War II period as a way for state governments to expand their social safety nets without raising taxes too much on middle-class or low-income people. And while the popularity of lotteries ebbs and flows with general economic conditions, they consistently win broad public approval.

Even so, state-sponsored lotteries rely on a small percentage of the population to drive sales. Those who purchase the most tickets—called “super users”—account for 70 to 80 percent of the revenues. As a result, critics of the industry have focused on issues like compulsive play and the lottery’s regressive effect on lower-income communities. The same kind of criticisms are being voiced as the industry evolves, with more people playing online and on mobile devices.