The casting of lots for purposes of making decisions or determining fates has a long record in human history, including several instances in the Bible. But lotteries, where a prize is given to every ticket purchased, are far more recent, appearing in the West around the time of the Roman Empire. The first known public lottery was organized by Augustus Caesar to raise money for municipal repairs in Rome.
The modern state lotteries were created in the immediate post-World War II period as a way for states to fund new services without imposing onerous taxes on middle- and working classes. And they’ve proven remarkably successful, gaining widespread support from all sorts of groups: convenience store operators (lottery ads are found in most stores); suppliers of lottery equipment and products (heavy contributions to state political campaigns by these companies are regularly reported); teachers, to whom a portion of revenues is earmarked in many states; and even state legislators, whose budgets get an occasional boost.
Despite the ubiquity of lotteries, not everyone understands how they work. Some people come into them clear-eyed about the odds of winning—and that those odds are low to vanishingly small—but others have developed quote-unquote systems that don’t reflect statistical reasoning, about lucky numbers and stores or times of day to buy tickets.
Most of the money outside your winnings goes back to the participating state, which can decide how to spend it. Some, like Minnesota, put some of it into a special fund that helps gambling addiction and recovery programs. But most use it to improve state infrastructure, such as roadwork, bridgework and police forces, or to supplement education funding.