A lottery is a process for allocating prizes by chance. A lottery may be simple or complex. A lottery is a simple lottery when the allocation of the prize(s) depends entirely on chance, and a complex lottery when there are multiple stages to the competition.
Lotteries are commonly used to award scholarships, jobs, and other opportunities. They are also used to fill vacancies in sports teams among equally competing athletes, placements in schools and universities, and other situations where the number of choices is greater than the available resources.
The first state-sponsored lotteries appeared in the early 15th century. The word lottery was probably derived from the Middle Dutch word loterie, or possibly from the Old French word loterie, which itself is likely to have been a calque on Middle Dutch lotinge “action of drawing lots”.
In order for people to participate in a lottery, they must purchase tickets, usually from authorized outlets. Generally, each ticket is marked with the applicant’s identification. Tickets are often sold in fractions, such as tenths of a dollar, although whole tickets can be purchased. In some countries, the lottery organization will collect and pool all the money paid for tickets. Often, this is done by having a hierarchical structure of sales agents who pass the money up to the organization until it is “banked.”
In the United States, forty-four states and the District of Columbia run a lotter. The six that do not are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Utah, and Nevada. Their absences have varied reasons: religious objections in Alabama and Utah; financial concerns in Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada, which have gambling industries that compete with the state lottery; and, in the case of Nevada, an indifference to gambling that stems from its status as a tourism center.