---
title: "Lotteries and Betting in History"
url: https://betongood.foundation/history/
description: "Drawing lots as public finance, the rise of fixed-odds bookmaking, and the pool."
---

# Lotteries and Betting in History

[Bet On Good](https://betongood.foundation/)

Notes on chance, odds and the design of games

Reading path

[Board index](https://betongood.foundation/)

›

Lotteries and Betting in History

Lotteries and Betting in History

Wagering is old, but the particular forms it takes are not. The lottery as a revenue instrument, the bookmaker as a maker of prices, and the pool as a way of sharing a common fund are three separate inventions with separate logics. These entries trace where each came from and what problem it was solving.

Entries in this category

*Entries filed under Lotteries and Betting in History.*

| Entry type | Entry | Last updated | Sections | Figures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| narrative entry | [Lotteries, from public finance to state monopoly](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/)The lottery is the oldest surviving commercial form of chance, and for most of its history it was a financing instrument rather than an entertainment product. | 17 August 2026 | 4 | 0 |
| worked arithmetic | [Bookmaking, odds notation and the overround](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/)A bookmaker does not know the probabilities and does not need to. The book is balanced by pricing every outcome slightly short, so the implied probabilities sum to more than one. | 17 August 2026 | 4 | 1 |

Sections within these entries

[Lotteries, from public finance to state monopoly](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/)

history

- [Drawing lots before there were prizes](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/#s1)
- [The financing instrument](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/#s2)
- [Abuse, prohibition and the private lottery](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/#s3)
- [The monopoly settlement](https://betongood.foundation/history/lotteries/#s4)

[Bookmaking, odds notation and the overround](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/)

arithmetic

- [Betting without a sample space](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/#s1)
- [Making a book](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/#s2)
- [The overround](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/#s3)
- [The pool as the alternative](https://betongood.foundation/history/bookmaking-and-betting/#s4)

Jump to category

[The Mathematics of Odds](https://betongood.foundation/odds/)

[Lotteries and Betting in History](https://betongood.foundation/history/)

[How Games Are Built](https://betongood.foundation/design/)

[Rules and Regulation](https://betongood.foundation/regulation/)

[Return to board index](https://betongood.foundation/)

Entry carries worked arithmetic with the steps shown.

Entry is narrative: history, development or design reasoning.

All times on this board are UTC. Dates shown are the date an entry was last revised. Bet On Good.