Lottery is a popular form of gambling in which tickets are drawn at random and a player wins a prize if the ticket they draw corresponds to winning numbers. The word is also used in a more general sense to refer to any scheme for allocating something based on chance. It has a long record in human history, including use as a means of making decisions and even divination, but the modern practice of holding a public lottery to distribute money is much newer.

In the United States, state-sponsored lotteries began in the 19th century and are often characterized as a way for states to raise funds for education and other programs without raising taxes. They are a popular source of revenue, and the prizes are usually substantial.

The winnings are typically paid in lump-sum payments or in annual installments. The former option is the most common, but it can make more financial sense to receive a prize over time in the form of an annuity. Regardless of how the prize money is distributed, most lotteries require that all proceeds be deposited in an official state fund.

The drawings for the major lotteries are generally held at a studio in a large city and broadcast live on television. The emcee is usually either a WSB-TV news anchor John Crow,[48] or Atlanta radio host Carol Blackmon,[49] with Adria Wofford serving as the secondary emcee. The emcees frequently begin by urging people to get out their tickets.