A lottery is a game in which players pay to buy tickets, or machines spit out numbers randomly, and win prizes if their number matches those drawn. People play the lottery in hopes of winning a large sum of money, which they can then use to buy things they want but cannot afford. Such hopes are a form of covetousness, which the Bible explicitly forbids.

Lottery games are popular in the United States, with Americans spending over $80 billion a year on them. The proceeds of the games benefit state governments, which use them to fund education and other public services. But is this the proper role of government? Moreover, does the promotion of gambling lead to negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers?

In most cases, state lotteries are set up to maximize profits. The process typically begins with a legislative monopoly; establishes a public corporation or government agency to run the lottery; starts out with a small number of relatively simple games; and, due to pressure for additional revenue, progressively expands the number and complexity of the games.

People who choose their own numbers for the lottery tend to pick the ones that are close together (such as birthdays or other personal numbers). This makes sense, because they are more likely to be repeated. But, Clotfelter argues, this approach also leads to a distortion in the odds.

This distortion is most apparent when the results of the lottery are compared to those of other types of gambling. The data show that lottery revenues rise and fall with income, but other forms of gambling do not.