Dupes? Morons? I don’t think so. It’s natural to want to win something for so little effort and the lottery offers that in spades. From a purely mathematical stance, it’s a risky bet, even (and sometimes especially) at low amounts. But there’s more to playing this game than just numbers theory or even winning a big pot of money. I’ll explain.
When I first turned 18, within a few days I bought my first lottery ticket for our state lottery. I remember the pot was $3.6 million dollars, which the lottery paid out over 20 years, so I would walk away with something like $100k a year after taxes. Yes, I did all the math eagerly. Once I bought my one ticket, and I was convinced that I only needed one, the fantasies started to play in my head about when I won. What I would buy, who I would be able to help, what I would do with my financially free life. All of these were the stuff of my dreams and I dived into them head first. You see, I prayed, and believed, that God would give me this. And since he loved me, of course, he would grant me the jackpot that would set me free on the world to do good.
The day of the lottery drawing came and I just knew the numbers were going to be mine. I tuned into the news, ticket in hand, shaking slightly in anticipation. The lottery came on, the numbers were chosen. I didn’t get a single one.
For a long time that disappointment kept me from playing the lottery, and now that I know what it’s all about I rarely play anymore. That is until the jackpot hit a record high. My wife asked me to buy some tickets “just in case” and I reluctantly complied. I tried to talk her out of it, she knows better than most how the system works, but my logic meant little in the face of hers. “You never know,” she said. And she was right.
Again, the numbers I picked didn’t win but as soon as I bought the tickets something funny and all too familiar happened. Those tickets represented possibilities and the permission to dream big. I didn’t spend two dollars on some numbers on a ticket, I spent two dollars to give myself permission to dream about winning. That small purchase allowed me some hope about a life free of work, filled with generosity, and all the time in the world to pursue my own leisurely activities.
I think this is how it works for most people. They don’t necessarily play to make money, they play the lottery to dream about a better future, and if they win all the better. In that sense I think the lottery is very worthwhile in that it gets us to dream a little more, imagine what could be and not dwell on just what’s in front of us. Yes, there is disappointment when you don’t win. But you just might, and that makes all the difference.
Where the lottery gets dangerous for some is when they take it too far, buying tickets when they can’t afford it, and letting it all get out of hand. You have to know your limits and understand the system in order to even have a chance for this to work for you. I think many lottery players get stuck in a hole of their own making and try to dig themselves out. Even worse is when they win a little, then sink even more money into the growing hole that becomes their finances.
People who play the lottery have to understand that the odds are against them. The smart way to play is to realize that you probably are not going to win but it would be nice if you did. Either that or you treat it like an investment by making the whole thing a business. Granted, you would be better off investing in a host of other, more profitable enterprises, but at least if you treat playing the lottery as a business then you won’t get too far in the hole if at all.