Almost every state has adopted its own lottery since New Hampshire did so in 1964. The arguments for and against adoption, the structure of the resulting lotteries, and the evolution of their operations all show remarkable uniformity. The basic dynamic is that voters want their state governments to spend more, and politicians look at lotteries as a way to get tax money for free.
In general, state lotteries raise large sums of money, and the prizes are determined by chance. The prize pool consists of the total amount of tickets sold minus the cost of promotion, profits for the promoter, and taxes or other revenues. Usually one large prize is offered along with a number of smaller prizes, though there are variations. Prizes are often awarded in the form of a lump sum, but annuities are also common.
When a lottery advertises a big jackpot, the amount is usually the value of an annuity that pays out 30 years worth of payments to the winner. The promotional message, then, is that you can win a huge sum and not have to worry about it, so you should play. This is a false message and a dangerous one, because it suggests that the lottery is not really about gambling but rather about this meritocratic fantasy of wealth. The truth is that the large majority of people who play lotteries are low-income, less educated, nonwhite, and male. In addition to fostering the false belief that playing the lottery is not a serious form of gambling, this message also obscures how regressive lottery revenue is.