A competition based on chance in which numbered tickets are drawn at random and prizes (usually money) are given to the holders. The lottery is a popular form of gambling and can be addictive, so make sure you have enough expendable cash before starting to play. And always watch out for the danger signs – like becoming more obsessed with your chances of winning than you are with other things in your life.

The modern state lottery began in 1964 with New Hampshire’s adoption of one, and it soon became a nationwide phenomenon. Since then, state lotteries have won broad public support and grown in size and complexity. The process of establishing and running a lottery has followed remarkably similar patterns in almost every case: a state legislates to establish a monopoly, hires a commission or other public corporation to administer the lottery, begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games, and then progressively expands its offerings.

Some scholars believe that the popularity of state lotteries reflects the fact that the proceeds are seen as benefiting some specific public good, such as education. However, studies have shown that the actual fiscal health of a state government has little influence on whether or not it adopts a lottery.

Another reason for lottery popularity may be that it gives ticket holders the opportunity to fantasize about what they would do with their windfall. In addition, regular players diminish their losses and concentrate on the times they did win, which keeps them coming back to try again.