A lottery is a game where numbers or symbols are drawn at random and winners win prizes. It is common in the United States and around the world. There are a number of different types of lottery games, including those that give cash prizes and those that award goods and services such as kindergarten admissions or apartments in a subsidized housing complex. The word lottery is also used to refer to any contest or competition that relies on chance. This includes anything from sports-related lotteries to those that dish out cash prizes for the winning entrants.
Prizes in lotteries must be carefully sized to balance costs and profits with public interest. Big jackpots encourage ticket sales and draw media attention, but they may not provide enough of an incentive to keep players interested for long. In addition, a lottery must decide whether to offer a single large jackpot or a series of smaller ones. In either case, the amount of the jackpot must be large enough to compel people to participate.
Once state lotteries became established, their advocates stopped arguing that they would float all of a government’s budgetary boats and focused instead on a specific line item that was popular and nonpartisan (usually education, although it could be public parks, elder care, or veterans’ benefits). This strategy allowed voters to support the lottery while expressing ethical objections to gambling. It also gave moral cover to white voters who feared that black numbers players would help foot the bill for a service they disliked, such as police enforcement in their neighborhoods.