Official Lottery Results

Official lottery results and winning numbers are posted after each drawing. Winning numbers and prize payouts are subject to change based on a variety of factors. Winners are encouraged to check results after each drawing.

Lotteries were born out of exigency, Cohen writes, in a time when America was short on cash and long on needs. Providing schools, roads, and other public services was no easy task when the population was growing quickly and taxes were unpopular. And, as early America was defined politically by its aversion to taxation, the lottery was an appealing alternative source of revenue.

As a result, state lotteries became increasingly popular, and their marketing campaigns were highly effective. The blitzes of noise and decades of heavy promotion led the public to believe that education and other vital services were being lavishly funded by gambling money. The truth, however, is that state lottery revenues make up just about one per cent of overall state budgets. And, as with any regressive tax, the funds are drawn disproportionately from those who can least afford to part with their hard-earned dollars.

What is more, lotteries are not above availing themselves of the psychology of addiction, he writes. From slick advertising to the look of the tickets themselves, the commissions are all designed to keep players coming back for more. It is not unlike the strategies used by tobacco companies or video-game makers. In fact, some people might say that the lottery is a form of government-sanctioned brainwashing.