Chris Gudgeon and Barbara Stewart

Lotteries are games of chance in which participants purchase numbered tickets with the hope of winning cash or prizes. A popular means of raising money for schools and other projects in America until the late 1800s, lotteries were banned by every state in the union after high—profile scandals turned public opinion against them. In 1964, cash—strapped New Hampshire became the first state government to reintroduce a lottery and, based on its success, was soon followed by several other states. In 2003, thirtyseven states and the District of Columbia ran lotteries, and Americans spend billions of dollars on tickets each year. Chris Gudgeon and Barbara Stewart are the authors of Luck of the Draw: True—Life Tales of Lottery Winners and Losers. In the following excerpt from their book, the authors describe how a multistate...