The lottery is a form of gambling that involves drawing numbers and hoping to win a prize, usually money. Lottery is legal in many countries and has been used as a way to fund a variety of public and private projects, from churches and libraries to canals and bridges. Benjamin Franklin even organized a lottery to raise funds for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the Revolution. In modern times, state lotteries have become an important source of revenue for schools and other public services.

But lottery marketing has a hidden message that obscures how regressive it really is: it suggests that playing the lottery, even for a modest amount, can help people get out of a financial jam—and, in fact, teaches us to trust our gut instinct and play on a hunch. “When we’re facing odds that are really small, the brain is more likely to go into magical thinking or superstition or a hunch,” says Carnegie Mellon economist George Loewenstein.

The first state to introduce a lottery was New Hampshire in 1964. Then, other states joined in to take advantage of the lucrative, tax-free income from lottery ticket sales. Despite their popularity, state lotteries are plagued with problems that stem from the nature of government’s relationship with the lottery. The lottery is not simply a source of tax-free revenue; it also creates large specific constituencies, including convenience store owners and vendors (who make heavy donations to state political campaigns); teachers in states where lottery revenues are earmarked for education; and other political interests that are eager to boost lottery funding.