A lottery is a system of awarding prizes by chance, using numbers or other symbols. The casting of lots has a long history in human society, including several instances in the Bible, but a public lottery for material gain is relatively recent. The first recorded public lotteries to offer tickets for sale with prize money were in the Low Countries in the 15th century, raising funds for walls and town fortifications, and to help the poor.

The modern state lottery typically starts with legislation granting the state a monopoly on gambling, then creates a state agency or public corporation to run the lottery (as opposed to licensing a private firm in exchange for a portion of the profits). Lottery divisions typically manage a wide range of functions, including training retailers to use lottery terminals, distributing advertising materials and prizes to retailers, selling and redeeming tickets and winning tickets, paying high-tier prizes, and monitoring retailer compliance with state and national laws.

Many states have also adopted a form of the National Lottery, with an instant win game that allows players to purchase a single ticket for a chance to instantly win a large sum of cash or other prizes. A popular option for a prize is an annuity, which provides a stream of payments over time instead of one lump sum. Americans spend over $80 Billion each year on lotteries, and that money could be better spent building an emergency fund or paying down credit card debt.