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I live in one of the 'blessed' states that doesn't participate The cost of gas and time involved discouraged me from driving to the border. If this state participated I would throw a few dollars at it just for fun, knowing it's a pipe dream.
For fun here's a mega-millions lotto simulator. I didn't fare well, spent $1040 over 10 years, won $77
Probably not any worse than the average person spends on various forms of entertainment over the course of 10 years.
I play semi-regularly but only play the Mega when the jackpot gets above 100 million. I play the state lottery somewhat more often...its odds are more like 1 in 44 million. Never play more than a few dollars at a time, I'm playing somewhat more this time just because it's such a big deal.
Lotto is for people who have no drive for success.
So if a guy has build and sold 3 businesses for over 100mm dollars buys a ticket he has no drive for success? (not me, but an acquaintance and we both had $20 in on the big drawing).
I would be willing to bet even a guy like Donald Trump had tickets for that last drawing!
You take an average American or American family and subject their town to droves of reporters from all over the country, staking out the 7-11 and the neighborhood for any hints about who the "lucky" winner might be.
You have every family member, every neighbor, every charity, every non-profit, every school, every scam, and every methhead in the state asking you for money.
The first pieces of advice the experts on TV say is to talk to a lawyer, get financial planning, and keep the ticket safe. The last one is hard since by now all the newspapers and TV channels have broadcast your face, your job, and your address. The first two . . . well, again, you take an average American and make them immediately seek out legal or financial advice when their prior retirement planning consisted of buying lottery tickets, and you can bet that advice won't be too sound.
I wonder, and I'm too busy to Google right now, how many lottery winners end up broke, or end up losing most of their money by being foolish, by giving to everyone or everything who came asking, or by making poor investments. Kind of like athletes who lose everything in five years because they never had money before that big contract and never learned to manage it.
Maybe I'm not ambitious, but I'd rather get that $250,000 second prize for now . . . at least until I can think up smart ways to use those hundreds of millions of dollars and find a way to make meaningful differences in the community. A quarter million is enough to feel like a big bonus (it is), but would still let you live your life, keep your friends, and not have to go into hiding.
Maybe I'm not ambitious, but I'd rather get that $250,000 second prize for now . . . at least until I can think up smart ways to use those hundreds of millions of dollars and find a way to make meaningful differences in the community. A quarter million is enough to feel like a big bonus (it is), but would still let you live your life, keep your friends, and not have to go into hiding.
Someone in the next town won $250,000. It isn't family that I know of. Dang!
Lottery's are an indirect tax on all citizens, not only on stupidity. Lottery proceeds typically go to education or other social programs which should have been covered already in a municipalities budget.
Most lottery ticket buyers are of low income; why buy a lottery ticket if you already have money? They are, first of all a regressive tax; those with lower incomes pay a higher proportion. It is a fantasy of the poor to be wealthy and own nice things. Someone with a low income could not save enough to have what the wealthy do (for better or worse) and the purchase of a lottery ticket is a momentary consolation in fantasy that they might escape their current situation.
Lotteries have another underlying aspect not immediately realized, that affects all persons in that municipality. When someone purchases a lottery ticket, that money is held in the pool for future winnings. As most ticket purchasers are of low income, that money, if not spent on a ticket, would have probably been spent soon on other goods and services making its way into the economy. As lottery proceeds, the money is stuck in a pool of future winnings and even when it is won, that individual now has a vast sum of money which will either be saved and not put into the economy, or spent over time slowly making its way back into the economy.
The taxation of lottery proceeds is also ridiculous, as most of the proceeds went to government funding to begin with. If you purchase a lottery ticket, you are wasting your time and money with a fleeting fantasy that will never be fulfilled. You are worshiping material wealth.
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The cost of gas and time involved discouraged me from driving to the border. If this state participated I would throw a few dollars at it just for fun, knowing it's a pipe dream. 
