The odds of winning a lottery are pretty lousy, but if you know how to play, you can still improve your chances. Here are some tips from the pros:

Lotteries first appeared in the ancient Roman Empire as a kind of entertainment at dinner parties, with winners being guaranteed something valuable. Typically, the prizes were fancy items like silverware or tablecloths. During the Renaissance, towns and cities began organizing public lotteries to raise money for various purposes, including wars and repairs to city buildings. Later, lottery games became common in England and the American colonies. Public lotteries were seen as a painless form of taxation, and they played a big role in financing such projects as roads, canals, bridges, schools, libraries, churches, and colleges.

People try to boost their odds of winning by buying a lot of tickets. One way to do this is to join a syndicate, a group of people who pool their resources and buy lots of tickets. This increases your chances of winning, but it also means that your payout is smaller each time. Some people are willing to spend a lot of their income on this strategy, but it’s not for everyone.

Even so, people continue to gamble on the lottery because there’s this inextricable human impulse to play, especially when the jackpots are huge. But it’s important to keep in mind that lottery tickets are not a good way to invest your money. Instead, it’s better to put your dollars toward paying down debt, saving for retirement, and diversifying your investments.