The official lottery is a system of gambling in which numbers are drawn to select winners and distribute proceeds. The prize money may be a fixed amount or a percentage of the ticket sales. The lottery may also have other requirements, such as a minimum number of small prizes or an overall winner’s cap. It may also have rules governing the frequency and size of prizes, the cost of organizing and promoting it, and how the winners are chosen.

Despite the fact that most people know that they have a low chance of winning, lottery games continue to be popular. They are advertised everywhere, from billboards to television commercials, and they are an important source of revenue for states. But what’s behind their appeal? Why did states start relying on them as a source of funding, and how have they become so popular?

In Cohen’s telling, state lotteries were born out of exigency: A booming population and expanding social safety nets created a need for increased revenues that could not be met through taxes or cuts. In the nineteen-sixties, states began casting around for solutions to their budget crises that would not enrage their anti-tax electorate, and lotteries became a viable option.

The New York Lottery was one of the first, and it promised to use its proceeds for education. Since 1967, it’s raised billions and helped to improve education in New York City. But it’s not without controversy: Some say that it’s a regressive tax, while others point out that it provides an opportunity for marginalized communities to build wealth that may otherwise be unavailable.