A lottery is a game in which people purchase chances to win money or prizes. The winners are determined by drawing lots, which is a random process. People have used lotteries since ancient times to distribute things like land and slaves, and today they’re used to award tax deductions, grant college scholarships, and even settle lawsuits.

Cohen argues that the lottery’s rise coincided with a dramatic decline in the financial security of the average working American. In the nineteen-seventies and eighties, income inequality widened, pensions and health insurance were eliminated, savings and investments plummeted, and the long-held national promise that hard work and education would eventually render Americans wealthier than their parents became a faint memory.

Lottery participation grew as state budget crises reached new heights and politicians cast around for solutions to their problems that wouldn’t enrage an anti-tax electorate. At the same time, private lotteries proliferated. People could play for a prize as small as dinnerware or as large as an island.

Many lottery players go in clear-eyed about the odds and how the games work. And they’re not afraid to spend a lot of money to try to increase their chances of winning. Some try to play every combination of numbers in a drawing, which isn’t easy for Powerball or Mega Millions. Others form syndicates so they can afford to buy more tickets, which increases their odds of winning. But it’s still not a foolproof strategy.