What is the purpose of the lottery?
The idea for the lottery was invented by the Chinese. Generals and Emperors used lotteries to finance expensive armies and building projects (the Great Wall was funded by state lotteries). European monarchies also used lotteries to finance state projects and what not. These days though, lotteries are used to entertain the masses with a little bit of hope and there is still the useful tax revenue. The funding comes from the players. That is, the lottery collects more money than it gives to winners. The lottery is actually even worse that slots in terms of odds (usually around 30% house edge) but they get away with it because they are usually monopolies and no-one complains after recieving tens of millions of dollars.
