A lottery is a procedure for distributing something, usually money or prizes, among a group of people by chance. The word is derived from the Dutch noun lot, meaning “fate.” Lotteries have been used to distribute property and slaves since ancient times. Many modern governments run lotteries to raise funds for various public purposes and use them to provide entertainment.

A central feature of most lotteries is a pool of all stakes placed and the method for selecting the winners. This pool is normally thoroughly mixed by some mechanical means, such as shaking or tossing, before any numbers or symbols can be selected for the drawing. Computers are becoming increasingly common in this process, as they have the capacity to record and store information about large numbers of tickets and to select winning combinations with a high degree of accuracy.

Some lotteries are played for cash or goods, while others offer chances to win specialized services or even real estate. For example, the National Basketball Association holds a lottery to determine which team gets the first pick in draft selection. These types of lotteries typically return slightly more than 50 percent of the total prize pool to the winners.

The cost of a ticket and the chances of winning are important factors in deciding whether or not to play a lottery. However, some studies suggest that the utility of a non-monetary gain from playing might outweigh the expected disutility of a monetary loss.