Lottery is a game of chance in which participants select numbers and win prizes if those numbers are drawn. It is a form of gambling and is generally considered illegal in most countries. It has many different forms, such as those that dish out cash prizes to paying participants and those that determine draft picks for professional sports teams.

Despite its many controversies, the lottery has become an important source of tax revenue in most states. It has also been a popular way to raise funds for education, public works, and other state priorities. In the United States, there are 43 state-run lotteries and the federal government conducts two. Several private companies also operate lotteries. The first recorded use of a lottery was in the Chinese Han dynasty between 205 and 187 BC. In the United States, Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery in 1776 to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British. It is believed that Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton both approved of the idea of a state-run lottery.

Since New Hampshire began the modern era of state lotteries in 1964, a number of states have followed suit. But while the growth of the games has prompted expansion into new types of games and a heavy push for promotion, the lottery industry continues to face serious criticisms from a variety of sources.

These include the risk of compulsive gambling and their regressive impact on low-income groups. In addition, critics have pointed to the way that the games encourage smuggling of tickets and stakes. Lottery games are often sold on the black market and in some cases even smuggled across borders.

A second problem is the way that lotteries disproportionately benefit business owners and their political allies. In addition to convenience store operators, the typical sellers of lotteries, there are many other businesses that have come to depend on lottery sales. These include lottery suppliers, who have become accustomed to hefty contributions to state political campaigns; teachers (in states where lottery revenues are earmarked for education); and state legislators, who quickly develop a taste for the additional revenue that lottery games bring in.

Finally, the fact that a large percentage of the prize pool is taken up by administrative costs and profits can make it difficult for states to offer substantial prizes. But if the lottery is to compete with other commercial products, it must offer something attractive enough to attract players, and this can mean very large prizes.

Defenders of the lottery argue that people would gamble anyway, so governments might as well collect the proceeds. But Cohen shows that this argument is flawed in a number of ways. For example, it ignores the fact that lotteries are sensitive to economic fluctuations. When unemployment rates rise, poverty rates increase, and the cost of living rises, lotteries sell more. In addition, the promotional efforts of lotteries tend to target neighborhoods that are disproportionately poor or black.