Why do people play a game with such bad odds like the lottery?

Because some people are idiots. (If you doubt me, jump over to the board game section and see how many people believe in Ouija boards.)

The lottery is what I call a Stupid Man's Tax.

You're correct. Lotteries have the worse odds against winning than any other type of gambling. Sure, lotteries do have the biggest pay outs for small bets, but did you know that most lotteries only pay out thirty cents for every dollar collected? This is a significantly worse payout than most casinos, slot machines, office pools, race tracks, and even dishonest bookies.

Most lotteries are run by local or national governments to raise revenue for public services, such as schools or roads. Lotteries have unusually low returns of winning, because lotteries are required to have large profits to pay for these public services.

Realistically speaking, lotteries sell the hope of winning huge sums of money at an astronomically high odds against winning. Therefore only people, who do not have much money, are more likely to buy lottery tickets for a better life or to pull themselves out of poverty. Thus, the people who need their hard earned money the most are most likely fooled.

This is why the lotteries are a "tax on stupidity."

Lotteries take money from people who have the least amount of money and people who least understand their odds of winning, and redistribute the lottery proceeds to pay for public services just like an optional tax for those who can be fooled. Simple put, the lottery is a stupid man’s tax.

Governments should not be in the business of deceiving those people who can least afford it. The governments of the world to stop your lotteries and collect taxes rationally and fairly.

Well rather than going to a casino and loosing $300 to $500 at a time a $1 to $20 gamble is non-threatening. Lets face the truth casinos are large and pretty because many more people loose than win the odds are stacked against you when you walk in the door. As for slot machines they are worse then the lottery most are set to take your money and the ones by the door give out little winnings just enough to get attention but they take in considerably more than they payout, and how many times has it happened that someone hits the jackpot on a slot machine and oops the machine was broke you've never seen the lottery pull that trick. The truth is people like to win, I mean look at " The Price is Right " how people get so excited over crappy little cars I mean do you scream and roll around on the floor every time you see a Ford Escort? Like I said people just like to win, people like to dream about the day that it will happen to them, and it only costs $1 to dream like they say you can't win if your not in. Then you must consider how many people know someone who has won the Lottery or know of someone that has won that adds hope to any player. At first I would not play the lottery, I thought it was just a scam to get money without raising taxes, that's what I thought until 3 of my friends won then I realized that people do win maybe not every day but it does happen. I have one friend who played the same numbers for over a year and the one night she didn't play the numbers hit, she ended up having a nervous break down sad but true. Some people see it as foolish to try with the odds of winning so high against you but every one that has won thinks otherwise and truth be told how many big winners and I mean millions do you hear about from casinos? Another fact is most lottery players only spend a few dollars a week if they put that chump change in the bank with today's poor interest rates it would never add up to millions. No it's not foolish to hope it's foolish to not even try.

When it comes to scratch off tickets, there is the thrill of anticipation at purchase, and you do get a jolt when you see a number match, and another one if you uncover a nice surprise, like $100. So there is thrill.

As for drawings, you slap down a buck, (you can't even buy a soda pop for a buck) and you've got a chance at millions. I know how bad the odds are. I don't care, because there's still a chance. As the old saying goes, You can't win if you don't play.

Several reasons:

1. Convenience/Impulse Buying. Easier to plunk down a dollar at the convenience-store counter than go to Vegas or Atlantic City.

2. Huge prizes - if you buy a ticket, you can dream about how you'll spend your winnings for a whole day (longer if you wait to check out the results).

3. Deceptive advertising - Lotteries are allowed to present themselves in deceptive ways that a Casino would never be allowed to do, including dramatizations that grossly exaggerate your chances of winning.

As an alternative to thinking about potential earnings from the lottery (or any gambling), think of the entertainment value. Years ago, a friend of a friend told me that he would take $x to entertain himself in Las Vegas. Same concept applies to the lottery. I guess the bouncing balls are a little entertaining, and you can certainly entertain yourself by dreaming about your $200 million mansion. (Lottery advertisers prey on this aspect.)

Because there are various lottery funds including health causes such as for ill children, disabled carers and hospitals and also for historic and cultural interests.

You're asking why people would rather spend a DOLLAR at their local gas station or supermarket than drive hundreds of miles or fly across the country and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars at a casino?

Seriously?

Low wager, high payout, and (for me) the idea that some of it goes back to the community.