The Lottery Wars: Long Odds, Fast Money, and the Battle Over an American Institution

Despite the infinitesimal odds, more than half of Americans admit to occasionally playing the lottery. We wait on long lines and give up our coffee breaks. We scratch tickets, win, and spend the winnings on more scratch tickets. We play our "lucky" numbers, week in and week out.

In a country where gambling is ostensibly illegal, this is a strange state of affairs. In colonial Jamestown, the first lottery was created despite conservative opposition to the vice of gambling. Now, 42 states spon...