If you’ve ever played the lottery, you probably have fantasized about what you would do if you won. For some, it’s a vacation home or new car or paying off debt. But what many don’t realize is that even if they do hit the jackpot, they won’t be alone. There are a host of financial decisions that must be made right away, from who to tell and how to handle the money once they win. The first thing a winner needs to do is establish a team of trusted financial experts.

Lottery has been a fixture of American life for centuries. It’s one of the most popular forms of gambling in the country, with people spending upward of $100 billion on tickets each year. State governments promote the lottery as a way to generate painless revenue, and research shows that lotteries are generally well received by voters. However, the benefits that lottery proceeds have on broader state budgets are debatable.

During the lottery’s early years, states promoted it as a way to raise money for education. Today, that message has shifted, and critics say that the lottery is more about selling an experience (the feeling of scratching a ticket) than raising money for public services. In addition, studies show that lottery popularity is unrelated to a state’s fiscal health. The reason? Politicians like the idea of a “painless” source of revenue, and voters have a tendency to want their politicians to spend more.

Another criticism of the lottery is that it is a form of hidden taxation. By making a purchase, players are paying for the chance to receive a prize, and that’s how they’re taxed, whether or not they win. Lottery retailers also collect commissions on the sale of tickets, so they’re not exactly disinterested parties in the process.

Lotteries are also notorious for misleading consumers. Their advertising campaigns commonly present inflated odds of winning, and they tend to target specific groups. Men play more frequently than women, and low-income people play disproportionately. Moreover, lottery marketing can be seen as a form of regressive taxation on the poor.

In a time when income inequality is rising, it’s important to examine the costs and benefits of the lottery. Lottery advertising should stop misleading consumers, and it should be honest about the odds of winning a prize. It should also be transparent about its funding and its impact on taxpayers, including the regressive effects on lower-income individuals. The current lottery system is in need of a thorough overhaul, and there are plenty of ways to do it. Until that happens, the lottery will continue to entrap millions of people. This is a classic case of policy being made piecemeal and incrementally, with little or no overall vision or strategy. With so much at stake, lottery officials need to step up their game. If they don’t, their policies will only continue to evolve — for the worse.