Although making decisions or determining fates by casting lots has a long record in human history (including several instances recorded in the Bible), lottery as a tool for raising money is more recent, dating back to the 15th century in the Low Countries. The first public lotteries raised funds to build town fortifications and to help the poor.
Modern state lotteries are much more complex than their medieval ancestors. Typically, the state establishes a monopoly for itself by law; establishes a public corporation to run it; starts with a small number of relatively simple games and then, to avoid boredom among potential players and keep revenues growing, introduces new ones – sometimes on a weekly basis. The end result is that many people who play state lotteries are devoted to particular games, resulting in a classic form of self-perpetuating addiction that can be difficult to break.
In the United States, state lotteries are wildly popular. In fact, all but five of the fifty states – Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Utah – have them. And even the six without a lottery have some form of gambling.
Super-sized jackpots drive lottery sales, and are a key component of the game’s popularity. They also generate free publicity on news sites and television, so increasing their sizes is a common strategy. But it can be risky. The odds of winning are significantly reduced if the top prize is carried over to the next drawing.