Lottery

A lottery, often called a lotto, is a type of gambling where numbers are drawn at random to win a prize. Some governments ban lotteries, while others support them, sometimes even running a national or state version. Most governments impose some regulations, commonly banning sales to minors and requiring licenses for ticket sellers. In the 19th century, lotteries were widespread in the United States and elsewhere, but by the early 20th century, most gambling—including lotteries—was illegal in the U.S., much of Europe, and many other countries. This stayed true until after World War II. In the 1960s, casinos and lotteries started reappearing worldwide as a way for governments to raise money without increasing taxes.

Lotteries come in various forms. The prize might be a fixed amount of cash or goods, but this risks the organizer if too few tickets sell. More often, the prize fund is a set percentage of ticket sales. A common example is the "50–50" draw, where the prize equals half the revenue. Many modern lotteries let players pick their own numbers, which can lead to multiple winners.

The earliest known signs of a lottery are keno slips from China’s Han dynasty, between 205 and 187 BC. These likely helped fund major government projects, like the Great Wall of China. The Chinese Book of Songs, from the 2nd millennium BC, mentions a game of chance called "the drawing of wood," which seems to describe drawing lots.

The first known European lotteries happened during the Roman Empire, mainly as entertainment at dinner parties. Each guest got a ticket, and prizes were often fancy items like dinnerware, with everyone guaranteed to win something. This was really just wealthy nobles giving gifts during Saturnalian festivities. The earliest record of a lottery selling tickets comes from Roman Emperor Augustus, who used the funds for repairs in Rome, with winners receiving items of unequal value.

The first recorded lotteries selling tickets for cash prizes occurred in the Low Countries in the 15th century. Towns held public lotteries to raise money for fortifications and to help the poor. Records from Ghent, Utrecht, and Bruges suggest lotteries might be even older. A document from 9 May 1445 in L’Ecluse mentions raising funds for walls and town fortifications with a lottery of 4,304 tickets and total prize money of 1,737 florins. In the 17th century, the Netherlands commonly used lotteries to collect money for the poor or for public uses. They were popular and seen as a painless tax. The Dutch state-owned Staatsloterij, founded in 1726, is the oldest running lottery. The English word "lottery" comes from the Dutch noun "lot," meaning "fate."

The first recorded Italian lottery was held on 9 January 1449 in Milan, organized by the Golden Ambrosian Republic to fund a war against Venice. But it was in Genoa that Lotto became very popular. People bet on the names of Great Council members, who were drawn by chance—five out of ninety candidates every six months. This gambling was called Lotto or Semenaiu. When people wanted to bet more often than twice a year, they replaced candidate names with numbers, giving birth to modern lotto, which both legal lotteries and illegal numbers games trace back to.

In France, King Francis I discovered lotteries during his campaigns in Italy and started one in 1539 to help state finances. The first French lottery, the Loterie Royale, was authorized by the edict of Châteaurenard but failed because tickets were too costly and the wealthy classes opposed it. From 1757 to 1836, with a break during the French Revolution, the French state ran a profitable Loterie. It began as a way to fund the École militaire, with key help from Giacomo Casanova and the Calzabigi brothers. Casanova discussed the project with Madame de Pompadour, mathematician Jean d’Alembert, Joseph de Pâris Duverney, and the French foreign minister. Unlike modern lotteries where the state can’t lose, the French lottery could lose, but smart payoff choices made losses so unlikely that the state still profited.

In England, the first recorded official lottery was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566 and drawn in 1569. It issued 400,000 tickets at 10 shillings each, with the grand prize around £5,000. This lottery raised money for repairing harbors, strengthening the realm, and other public works, including new ships for the royal fleet. Every ticket holder won a prize, and the total prize value equaled the money raised. Prizes included both cash and valuable goods like silver plate.