A lottery pengeluaran sgp is a form of gambling or fund-raising in which tickets are sold and the winners are determined by chance. The prizes may be money or goods. A state law regulating the lottery may require that the winnings be used for a public good such as education. Lottery games have a long history and continue to be popular. Some states have even resorted to them as a method of raising money to pay for the costs of government services.

The practice of making decisions or determining fates by the casting of lots has a very long record (including several instances in the Bible). The first recorded lottery to distribute property was held during the reign of Augustus Caesar for municipal repairs in Rome, and the first to offer prize money was probably in Bruges, in what is now Belgium, in 1466. Various public lotteries were held in the Low Countries throughout the centuries, often to raise funds for poor relief or town fortifications.

In colonial America, lotteries were common, and they played a significant role in the financing of private as well as public ventures. Benjamin Franklin used a lottery to raise money for the purchase of cannons to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution. In the 18th century, many public lotteries were instituted in the United States to help finance roads, canals, bridges, schools, colleges, and churches.

Today, the state lottery is a huge industry, and most states have enacted laws to regulate it. Each state has its own lottery division that selects and licenses retailers, trains them in the use of lottery terminals, sells tickets to customers, collects and redeems winning tickets, assists retailers in promoting the lotteries, pays high-tier prizes, and ensures compliance with state law.