A competition based on chance in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are awarded based on the numbers drawn at random. Often, lotteries are held to raise money for public or private projects. Unlike gambling, in which winnings are based on the risk of losing money, lottery prizes are guaranteed by law. Lotteries are criticized for promoting addictive gambling behavior, acting as major regressive taxes on lower-income groups, and putting state governments at cross purposes with their duty to protect the public welfare.

Lottery marketing campaigns use narratives of past winners to tap into the aspirational desires of their audience, making the prospect of winning a jackpot prize seem both attainable and life-changing. In addition, many ads emphasize that a lottery ticket is a small investment with a potentially huge return. This messaging reduces the perceived risk while magnifying the reward, which is central to the FOMO that drives the demand for tickets.

While the history of lotteries is diverse, state lotteries tend to follow a similar pattern. The state legislates a monopoly; hires a public corporation or agency to run it; starts with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, as revenues grow, progressively adds more complex games. This evolution is often accelerated by the pressure to maintain or increase revenue. The result is that many lottery officials have little overall sense of policy direction, and they become heavily dependent on revenue streams they cannot control or regulate.