The lottery is a popular way to win money by chance. In the United States, state lotteries raise billions of dollars each year from people who buy tickets to win prizes such as cars or houses. People play the lottery for fun, but it can also be seen as a way to escape from poverty and hopelessness. The biggest prizes can be life-changing, but most winners get less than a million dollars. The people who win the most are disproportionately low-income, nonwhite and male. The lottery is regressive because the poorest people spend more of their income on tickets.

The word lottery derives from the Middle Dutch noun lot, meaning fate or chance, and the verb to lot, from the same root. The earliest lotteries were probably organized in the Low Countries in the 15th century, to help with building town fortifications and helping the needy. Privately organized lotteries soon followed, with the proceeds sometimes being used to sell products or properties. In the American colonies, lotteries raised funds for the Revolutionary War and a variety of public works projects.

Today, most lotteries have a pool of prizes (including a single large prize) that is determined by the promoter and may include taxes or other revenues. The promoter often takes a portion of the prize fund as profits and expenses, and then divides the remaining value among the winners, who are selected by chance. A statistical analysis of the prize pool is usually done to ensure that the selection process is unbiased. Many, but not all, lotteries publish these results after the lottery has closed.