The lottery is a source of billions in annual revenue in the United States. Some people play it for fun; others see it as their last, best or only chance to win a better life. The odds are very low, but people continue to spend millions of dollars a week. But how much can you really expect to win?

Most state lotteries follow similar patterns: they establish a monopoly; choose a public agency or corporation to run the operation rather than licensing a private firm in return for a cut of profits; start with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, driven by the need to maintain or increase revenues, progressively expand their size and complexity by adding new games.

These expansions can produce a second set of issues, including concern about the potential for compulsive gambling and the lottery’s regressive impact on lower-income groups. But these concerns are primarily reactions to, and drivers of, the continuing evolution of the industry.

It’s also worth noting that a key factor in the lottery’s broad popular support is its ability to claim that it benefits a particular public good, typically education. This is particularly effective in times of economic stress, but it has been found that the objective fiscal condition of a state does not influence whether or when it adopts a lottery.