Lottery is a game of chance in which participants buy tickets and hope to win a prize, usually money. The prizes vary in size and value, but are normally less than the purchase cost of the ticket. In addition, a substantial amount of the total pool of tickets is deducted as costs for the promotion and taxes. The remaining prizes are then distributed to the winners in a predetermined order.

The practice of allocating property or rights by lot dates back to antiquity. The Old Testament describes dividing land among Israelites by lot, and the Roman emperors used lotteries to distribute property and slaves during Saturnalian feasts.

In modern times, many governments conduct lotteries as a means of raising funds for public works projects and other needs. In the United States, for example, the New York State Lottery provides funds for such projects as roads, bridges, canals, libraries, and churches. Lotteries also play an important role in raising money for charitable causes and private ventures. The National Basketball Association uses a lottery to determine the draft picks for each of its teams. The names of all 14 teams that did not make the playoffs are drawn, and the team whose name comes up first gets to select a player from the college pool.

The first recorded lotteries in the modern sense of the term were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century, when towns raised money for town fortifications and to help poor people. Lotteries were very popular in colonial America, and Benjamin Franklin raised money by a lottery to fund the purchase of cannons for Philadelphia. George Washington held a lotteries to raise money for his Mountain Road campaign, and rare lotteries tickets bearing his signature are collector items.