A lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn at random to determine the winners. The chances of winning a lottery vary widely, and are often very low. A lottery can be state-run, where prizes include money or goods. But it can also be any contest in which the winners are chosen at random, such as a school selection process. It is commonly used where there is high demand for something that can be limited to a small number of recipients, as in the case of the school choice process. Alternatively, it may be used where there is high demand for a service that can only be provided by one or a small number of providers, as in the case of a room assignment or a job interview.

People have been using lotteries for centuries. They are recorded in ancient texts, including the Old Testament and the Chinese Book of Songs. In the 17th century, Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to purchase cannons for the city of Philadelphia. George Washington managed a lottery to raise funds for his mountain road project. In the 18th and 19th centuries, colonists often ran lotteries to provide land and slaves for their families.

The odds of winning a lottery are typically very low, even for those who buy many tickets. And there are many ways to circumvent lottery security features, such as candling (separating the front layer with the winning numbers from the back) and wicking (using solvents like alcohols, ketones, acetates, or esters to force the numbers to “bleed” through a concealing coating). Nonetheless, the lottery is still a popular and relatively safe way to raise money, particularly for public uses.