The casting of lots has a long history, from biblical stories to ancient Rome’s land lottery to modern state-sponsored games. The modern world’s lotteries have a particularly striking legacy, as they are often used to raise money for specific projects. The universities of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, for instance, were built with lotteries’ proceeds. And many of the country’s first church buildings, and even the nation itself, were paid for with lotteries, too.
These days, however, few state governments have a coherent gambling policy. The reason is that the evolution of state lotteries takes place piecemeal and incrementally: a lottery is established, a public corporation is set up to run it (often by legislation creating a monopoly); it begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and then, due to constant pressure for additional revenues, a lottery progressively expands its game offering.
Lotteries have a strong brand: they are promoted as a source of “painless” revenue. This argument is especially effective in times of economic stress, when the threat of tax increases and cuts to public programs hangs over the populace.
But there is another message that lottery operators rely on, and it’s one that is also central to the success of sports betting: Lotteries are fun. In fact, the experience of playing a lottery is so much fun that people spend a substantial portion of their incomes buying tickets. Many even develop quote-unquote systems, like choosing lucky numbers or buying tickets at the best times of day, in a blatant attempt to beat the odds and win big.