The lottery is a game where players pay for a ticket, select numbers or have machines randomly spit out numbers, and win prizes if the number(s) they selected match those that are drawn. It is one of the world’s oldest forms of gambling and, as such, has been the subject of numerous debates and criticisms. Some of these concerns have focused on the state’s alleged ability to promote addictive gambling behavior, while others argue that lotteries impose major regressive taxes on lower-income groups and can lead to other kinds of abuses.

In the modern era, which began with New Hampshire’s establishment of a state lottery in 1964, nearly every state has adopted a lottery. And, despite the wide variety of arguments both for and against them, the structure and evolution of state lotteries have followed remarkably similar patterns:

When it comes to raising money, states like the lottery because it provides a source of “painless” revenue—a source of funds that is not directly taxing the general public. But the reality is that, in many cases, this is just a smokescreen for a much larger problem: The regressive impact of the state’s lottery policy and the overall instability of lottery operations.

For most people, the main reason to play the lottery is that they simply like to gamble. And, as with any kind of gambling, there’s always the inextricable human impulse to hope that you could become rich overnight. Billboards with the latest mega-millions jackpot dangle this temptation for everyone who drives down the road, and it’s easy to see why so many people succumb.