The distribution of prizes or rewards by lot is a common feature of many games and activities. The word lottery comes from the Latin for “dice” or “sprinkling”. A modern definition of lottery is “a drawing of lots in which prize money is distributed among persons who pay for a chance.”

Making decisions and determining fates by casting lots has a long history, including several instances mentioned in the Bible. Public lotteries in the sense of a game with prize money are more recent. They first appeared in 15th-century Burgundy and Flanders, with towns raising funds for municipal improvements or charitable purposes. Francis I of France introduced them in several cities in the 16th century. In colonial America, private lotteries helped establish Harvard and Yale universities, and George Washington sponsored a lottery to help finance a road across the Blue Ridge Mountains.

People buy tickets for the lottery, not only because they want to win a big jackpot but also because of the entertainment value and other non-monetary benefits it may provide. A good number of these people are aware that their odds of winning are long, and some try to make rational decisions based on the expected utility of both the monetary and non-monetary gains they might receive from the purchase.

Some people try to maximize their chances of winning by playing in a syndicate. A group of people puts in a small amount of money and then purchases a large number of tickets. By doing so they increase their chances of winning but their payout each time is smaller than if they purchased a single ticket.