Lottery is a game where participants pay money to have a chance at winning a prize based on a random process. The prize can be anything from a luxury home world, to a trip around the globe, or even a chance to close all your debts. It has been criticized for being an addictive form of gambling, but it is also used for charity and to help the less fortunate. The first recorded lotteries were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century, with towns raising funds to build town fortifications and to aid the poor. Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to raise money for cannons for Philadelphia, and George Washington participated in a slave lotteries, advertising land and slaves as prizes in his newspaper The Virginia Gazette.
In 2021, Americans spent upward of $100 billion on lottery tickets. State lotteries promote their games by saying that the money they raise benefits schools and children. But it’s worth asking if that really is true. And if it is, how much does each ticket really cost to the state?