Lottery is a form of gambling that involves drawing numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. Almost all governments regulate lotteries to some degree.

Some of the oldest records for a type of lottery come from the Low Countries in the 15th century, when towns would hold lotteries to raise money for town walls and for helping poor people. Some of these lotteries had a fixed prize, while others had a variable prize (for example, a chest of silver coins). The modern version of a state-run lottery is a system in which people purchase tickets and then win prizes, often cash, if their ticket matches certain combinations of numbers.

Many states also offer daily games and scratch-off tickets. These tend to be more addictive and draw disproportionately from lower-income neighborhoods. The popularity of these games has fueled concerns that they make the lottery more accessible to problem gamblers, or worsen existing problems with inequality and social cohesion.

In general, the success of a lottery depends on the number of people willing to pay for the chance to win. The more people participate, the higher the winnings can be. However, there is no guarantee that any particular person will win. For this reason, many people choose to buy multiple entries for the same lottery game. In this way, they increase their chances of winning but also reduce the size of their prize.