A lottery is a game in which tokens are distributed or sold and the winning token or tokens are selected by lot. The winner may be chosen by the drawing of numbers or in other ways, such as the National Basketball Association’s system for selecting top draft picks. The term derives from the Latin lottery, from the Greek (loteros), meaning fate.

The concept of a lottery is ancient, with references to it in the Old Testament and in the Gospels, but its widespread adoption dates back only to the 17th century. State-sponsored lotteries are a form of gambling that allows the public to bet on numbers in order to win prizes. They are popular with people who cannot afford to buy a lot of expensive goods or services, such as the elderly and the poor.

There are many different types of lottery games, but the most common feature is that a sum of money is given away to the winners. The value of the prize is usually a percentage of the total amount that is spent on organizing and promoting the lottery. Typically, profits and taxes are deducted from the pool of money available to the winners. The remaining percentage is often split among the top prize winners.

In the United States, winners can choose between annuity payments or one-time lump sum payments. A lump sum payout is significantly smaller than the advertised annuity jackpot, since time value of money is eroded by income taxes and inflation.