Lottery is the process of selecting a group of people, often for prizes or rights to something. The most common lottery games dish out cash prizes to paying participants, such as a raffle for kindergarten admission or units in a subsidized housing block. It is also common in sport and other things that require limited supply but high demand. Other examples include lottery drawings for a coveted piece of land, or the selection of players to play in a certain position on a sports team.

The main requirement for a lottery is that there be some way to record the identities and amounts staked by each bettor. Normally, this is done by selling tickets to which a bettor writes his or her name and number(s) or other symbol. The ticket is then deposited with the lottery organization for later shuffling and selection in the lottery draw. A computer system is often used for the purposes of recording sales, ticket printing, and transportation of tickets and stakes, especially when there are many participants and a large number of possible combinations to select from.

While the lottery does raise money for certain causes, it has a regressive impact. People with lower incomes spend a larger proportion of their income on tickets, and their chances of winning are exceptionally low compared to those of slot machines in casinos. Moreover, it can be a very expensive activity that drains household budgets and creates resentment among the poor.