When Roman emperors first shouted Let the games begin! they had no idea that state-sponsored games would lead to such phenomenon as our modern state lotteries. State lotteries began in the New Hampshire in the mid-1960s, as lotteries were outlawed by Congress until 1964 (Calonius 1). Since that time, lottery games have continued to win popularity among politicians, state legislatures and consumers. Inadvertently, players of state lotteries have helped turned the lottery industry into one of America’s biggest growth industries “Last year 32 states and the District of Columbia sold about 20 billion tickets—or $109 worth for every man, woman, and child in lottery states” (Calonius 1).
State legislatures love lotteries because the typical profit from lottery revenues averages out to around 40 percent. However, most states promote the fact that the majority of lottery profits are earmarked for things like education, senior citizens and other worthwhile state expenditures. Florida, a state that began running its own lotteries in 1988, has experienced unprecedented success when it comes to lottery profits. After only a decade in existence, Florida lotteries helped the state set a new record high for lottery revenues generated for education “The lottery has sold more than $21 billion worth of tickets, generating a cumulative total of $8 billion in voluntary, non-tax dollars for Florida’s classrooms—more than any other lottery in the nation earned for its state during its first ten years” (At Work 1).
The economic impact on the state of Florida where lotteries are concerned has been enormous. Not only have state lotteries provided more than $8 billion in profits for education, but because it has done so it has also saved taxpayers billions of dollars that would normally have been generated through taxes. According to Florida State Lottery Secretary Marcia Mann “By providing billions in much-needed financial su...