Across the United States, more than 186,000 retailers sell state-approved lottery tickets. The most common places to find them are convenience stores, gas stations, supermarkets, drugstores, banks and credit unions, newsstands and restaurants. Many of these outlets offer online services to purchase lottery tickets. Lottery tickets are also sold at church- and fraternal organizations, bowling alleys and service stations. In addition, some individuals sell tickets.

A lottery is a form of gambling that involves drawing lots to determine ownership or other rights. The practice became popular in Europe during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In 1612, King James I of England established a lottery to provide funds for the first permanent British settlement in America, Jamestown, Virginia. In colonial America, both public and private organizations held lotteries to raise money for towns, wars, colleges and public-works projects. Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to fund cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British during the American Revolution, and Thomas Jefferson tried a lottery to raise money for the construction of buildings at Harvard and Yale.

There are a number of reasons that people play the lottery, some of them psychological. People like to gamble, and a chance to win a large sum of money is certainly an appealing proposition. Lotteries also dangle the promise of instant wealth in an age of inequality and limited social mobility, which can be particularly attractive to those on lower incomes.

Most states rely on a mix of governmental agencies and private corporations to operate their lotteries. In some cases, the authority to enforce regulations and investigate fraud is shared with local police departments or with state attorneys general. In other cases, the authority rests with the state lottery board or commission, and in some states with an executive or legislative branch agency.

Lottery operations are complex. In order to attract players, state and private operators must establish a system of rules that defines the frequencies and sizes of prizes. Usually, a percentage of ticket sales goes toward the costs of organizing and promoting the lottery, and the remainder is available for prizes. The size of the prizes can vary from one or two very large jackpots to a multitude of smaller prizes. Ideally, the prizes should match the demographics of the potential player base.

Typically, the initial expansion of lottery participation and revenues is followed by a period of stability. When revenue growth slows, lotteries introduce new games and expand into other forms of gambling to maintain or increase their profits. Some of these innovations are based on technology and some are based on the desire to promote the lottery in different ways, including merchandising deals with celebrities, sports teams and other companies. These promotions often confuse the message that the lottery is a way to improve your life and the lives of those around you. This confusion can obscure the regressive nature of lottery play and encourage compulsive gamblers to continue playing.