How did the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery jackpots grow so big?

Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot draws started in the 90s and have grown massively in recent years.

But America's lottery system goes back further than that, and in colonial times helped finance some of the country’s roads, bridges, and schools, like Harvard and Yale.

Rick Kenny is now $100,000 richer after purchasing a losing scratch-off ticket. It's pretty hard to win the lottery if you don't win the lottery.But one man from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is defying expectations. Rick Kenny's scratch-off ticket in the $100,000 Home Changer game was initially a losing draw.

Jackpots have been on the rise since those two major lottery organizations, Mega Millions and Powerball, struck a deal in 2010 to cross-sell tickets in each others' member states.

Today, state-sponsored lotteries contribute millions of dollars to state budgets, but some critics question how effective they actually are. CNBC finds out more.