The Evolution of the Lottery
The lottery is a form of gambling in which people pay for tickets that have a chance of winning prizes. In some cases the prizes are money, while in others they may be land or other goods. It is common for governments to run lotteries to raise funds for public projects. These can include things like new roads, libraries or schools.
Lotteries have been around for centuries. In fact they are attested to in the bible, where the casting of lots was used for everything from dividing land amongst people to giving away slaves after Jesus’ crucifixion. They were also popular in the Roman empire, where the Emperor Nero had his own personal lottery.
Despite the ancient origins of the lottery, most modern lotteries are fairly recent, having emerged in the nineteenth century. They began in the US as a way for states to fund public works, but have grown into a massive industry in their own right, making large profits and becoming one of the most popular forms of gambling worldwide.
In his new book, The Lottery, journalist David Cohen describes the evolution of the modern state-run lottery as a booming business that has tapped into an inextricable human impulse to gamble. The underlying force is the sense that for many people, especially those with few other opportunities, the lottery offers a slim but real chance of financial salvation or, at the very least, an escape from the crushing burdens of poverty.
The first modern lotteries were introduced in the Low Countries in the fifteenth century, and records from Ghent, Bruges, and Utrecht show that they quickly gained popularity as a means of raising money for town fortifications or helping the poor. Those early lotteries were small, with only a few hundred tickets sold per drawing and modest prize amounts. As the games grew in size, though, the prizes became much larger, and the top jackpots began to appear regularly on newscasts and newspapers.
Super-sized jackpots drive ticket sales, and they also give the games a windfall of free publicity. This, in turn, makes it more likely that the jackpot will roll over to the next drawing, which boosts ticket sales even further.
After paying out the prizes and covering operating and advertising costs, states get to keep a percentage of the total pool. While that might seem like a good deal for potential winners, it’s not as clear-cut as it sounds: As Cohen points out, the vast majority of lottery money is spent on tickets.
In the end, however, it’s all about odds. As lottery jackpots grow and balloon, it becomes more and more difficult for someone to win, but a lot of people still buy tickets because they feel that, somehow, the long shot is their last, best or only hope.
In the end, while there’s no doubt that the lottery is a lucrative business, it’s also an ugly underbelly, a form of gambling that plays on a basic human desire to be lucky and a desperate need for money. And for those who play, it can be extremely addictive.