A lottery is a game in which people pay to have the chance to win prizes based on random selection. The money collected is used to award the winners and to cover expenses. Whatever is left over is the profit. Lotteries are legal in most countries and are extremely popular.

In the 17th century, Dutch towns held lotteries to raise funds for town fortifications and help the poor. The word “lottery” comes from the Dutch noun lot, meaning fate. People also use the term to describe other events in which chance determines outcomes, such as a drawing for housing units in a subsidized apartment building or kindergarten placements in a good public school.

People have always loved to gamble, but there’s more going on with lotteries than just the inextricable human desire to try their luck. The big thing is that they’re dangling the possibility of instant riches in an age of inequality and limited social mobility.

New York legislators sold the state-run numbers game by promising that a portion of proceeds would go toward education. But that turned out to be only a small part of the picture, and in any event, New York has since shifted away from that promise.

In general, more people approve of lotteries than actually buy tickets and participate, although the gap is narrowing. And most people are well aware that the chances of winning are very slim. But they also feel that there is some merit in the idea that some wealth should be funneled to helping others.