在美国，彩票这个令人着魔的概率游戏，自这个国家建立之日即已存在。在美洲还是英国的殖民地时，彩票就被当作公共建设的一种集资手段而广泛使用，但在19世纪时，彩票开始失宠，当时社会上的风气是勤俭节约和诚实正直，而彩票被认为是与此相违背的。在1890年，联邦政府立法禁止发行彩票，这一禁令长达75年。直到1964年，当新罕布什尔州开始第一次发行现代意义上的国家彩票时，为了确保彩票的可信性，聘请了一名前联邦调查局特工全程监督。
今天，彩票已经在42个州和哥伦比亚特区广为发行，而且在未来的几个月内，为了填补政府预算的短缺，彩票有可能变得更受欢迎。这种不用提高赋税即可增加收入的方法，理所当然地成为议会议员们喜爱的聚财之道，这一点不难理解。而对于普通的美国人来说，彩票也是一个好东西，尽管那种撞大运的机会极其渺茫。比如说，在30个州联合发行的强力球彩票，你想中个小奖，赢上一张免费彩票或一堆小钱的话，机会大约是1/4，但要想中头奖，机率就只有约1/146 000 000了。（要知道，你在高尔夫同一轮中连续两次一杆进洞的机率也不过才1/67 000 000)
2007年，美国各州的预算因彩票收入而增加了174亿美元。大部分州把其中的一部分划拨到教育事业，但也有许多州独辟蹊径，花得相当有创意。在堪萨斯和伊阿华州，彩票收入被拿来建设更有诱惑力的赌场项目；蒙大拿和威斯康辛则靠它来减免物业税。至于华盛顿州，近几年陆续投入了4990多万美元建设一个棒球场，并准备再投入7650万建一个美式足球场和一个会展中心，当然，这些钱都是从彩票收入中拿出来的。
相对于各种彩票的超级头奖，那些较小金额并且立即兑现的奖项竟然才是推动彩票发展的主要动力，这令人感到惊奇。现在彩票的通常售价是每张10-20美元，而即开型彩票则占到了彩票总收入的一半。即开型彩票稳定的中奖率让它持续不断地送出100美元的小奖，这意味着那些经常买彩票的人每隔几周总会中上那么一两次。于是，中奖的人把自己的经历告诉他们的朋友，他们的朋友就会一传十，十传百，越来越多的人知道这么一回事，当然也就有越来越多的人会来买彩票。
译文：
America’s fascination with the game of chance is as old as the nation itself. Lotteries were a common way to raise money for public works in Colonial America, but they fell out of favor in the 19th century, perceived as contrary to the culture of hard work, rectitude, and saving. Federal anti-lottery legislation in the 1890s closed the door on them for three quarters of a century. And when New Hampshire launched the first modern state lottery, in 1964, it made sure to hire a former FBI agent to run it.
Today, lotteries are a fixture in 42 states and the District of Columbia and are likely only to grow in popularity in the months ahead as governments around the nation struggle with budget shortfalls. The games have, understandably, become a favorite crutch for legislatures looking to raise money without hiking taxes. Ordinary Americans seem to love them too-even though the odds of hitting a life-changing payday remain minuscule. The chance of winning an extra ticket or a couple of bucks runs to about 1 in 4, but the odds of hitting the 30-state Powerball jackpot are roughly 1 in 146 million. (Your odds of making two holes in one in the same round of golf: as slim as 1 in 67 million.)
States raised $17.4 billion for their budgets in 2007. Most spend a portion of that income on education, but many have found other creative outlets. In Kansas and Iowa, lottery money pays for compulsive-gambling programs; Montana and Wisconsin have used it for property tax relief. Over the years, Washington State has spent $49.9 million of its lottery revenues on a baseball stadium and put $76.5 million toward a football arena and convention center.
The smaller instant prizes, surprisingly, are the engines of growth. Ten- and twenty-dollar tickets are now routine, and scratch-off games now make up about half of lottery sales. Their steady stream of $100 prizes means that regular players can win every few weeks. They tell their friends, who buy, win-and tell theirs.