I might just get lucky

So is there some sort of instruction guide for playing the lottery? I mean, I know it involves picking numbers and throwing your money into a vast and gaping void, but I walk into my friendly local convenience store and there are like seventeen different tickets with exciting and brightly colored graphics; I quickly become confused about how it all works.
But I figure that if my career path is to win the lottery and become independently wealthy, the first step is to buy a ticket.