LOTTERY

procedure for distributing something (usually money or prizes) among a group of people by lot or chance. The type of lottery considered here is a form of gambling in which a usually large number of people purchase chances, called lottery tickets, and the winning tickets are drawn from a pool composed of all tickets sold (sweepstakes) or offered for sale. The value of the prizes is the amount remaining after expensesincluding the profits for the promoter, the costs of promotion, and the taxes or other revenuesare deducted from the pool. In most large-scale lotteries a very large prize is offered along with many smaller ones. Lotteries have a very wide appeal as a means for raising money; they are simple to organize, easy to play, and, in general, popular but controversial. The practice of determining the distribution of property by lot is traceable to ancient times. Among dozens of Biblical examples, that in the Old Testament (Numbers 26:5556) has the Lord instructing Moses to take a census of the people of Israel and to divide the land among them by lot. The Roman emperors Nero and Augustus used lotteries to give away property and slaves during Saturnalian feasts and other entertainments. Modern lotteries of a similar type include those used for military conscription, commercial promotions in which property is given away by a random procedure, and the selection of jury members from lists of registered voters. Under the strict definition of a gambling type of lottery, however, payment of a consideration (property, work, or money) must be made for a chance of receiving the prize.