The lottery is a fixture in American society, with people spending billions on tickets every year. It’s also a big money maker for state governments, which promote the games as a way to raise revenue without burdening people with taxes or fees. But is the lottery a good idea? The answer depends on how you view gambling. It can be a fun and entertaining activity that’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. But it can also be a toxic exercise, one that lures the poor with promises of instant riches and then stings them when they don’t win.

The idea of distributing prizes by lot or chance dates back centuries — Moses was instructed to conduct a lottery when dividing up land among his people, and Roman emperors used lotteries to give away slaves and property. The modern era of state lotteries began with New Hampshire in 1964, and since then almost all states have adopted them. Lotteries typically start out as simple raffles, with people purchasing tickets for a drawing to take place in the future — weeks or months in the future. But revenues quickly expand, and in order to maintain or increase them state lotteries are constantly adding new games.

While there are differences across demographic groups in who plays the lottery, the majority of players come from middle-income neighborhoods. People in lower-income neighborhoods are less likely to play, and the likelihood of playing falls with education. Nonetheless, most people agree that gambling is morally acceptable — which makes it all the more frustrating when a government promotes a form of it that has so many harmful effects.