Is the “Curse” of the Lottery Real? And Other Questions About the Lottery, Answered.
VoxYou’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning or be elected president of the United States. But people keep buying tickets anyway.
Read when you’ve got time to spare.
What would you do if you won the lottery? You know it’s never going to happen—you’re more likely to win an Oscar or get hit by lightning. But, it’s fun to picture yourself suddenly rich, free from the constraints of normal life.
The lottery captures our imagination as a fairy tale, but its reality is far more complex. For the millions of people who buy tickets every year, it’s a genuine, albeit misguided, attempt at economic security in a society where social mobility is increasingly out of reach. For U.S. states, it’s a source of revenue without any political battles over taxation. For lottery companies, it’s a billion-dollar business—and, critics say, a predatory one that targets poor communities. And for the tiny percentage of ticket buyers who actually win, it’s the fairytale come true, often with unexpected side effects.
The stories below explore the reality behind the lottery fairy tale, ultimately asking: Why do we keep playing a game we know we won’t win?
Image by 3d_kot/Getty Images.
You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning or be elected president of the United States. But people keep buying tickets anyway.
Gaming the lottery seemed as good a retirement plan as any.
BONUS READ: The $30 Million Lottery Scam, via The Atlantic.
The games are a bonanza for the companies that states hire to administer them. But what about the rest of us?
Blind to the mathematical odds, we fall to the marketing gods.
Jonathan D. Cohen introduces us to the history of the daily numbers, a game popular in Black American communities in the 60s and 70s that paved the way for some of the most successful state lotteries to date.
An excerpt from The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers.
BONUS READ: Lotteries Remain Popular in Black Communities Because They Give Hope, via The Washington Post.
The higher these numbers go, the more players come to expect.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
“Everybody dreams of winning money, but nobody realizes the nightmares that come out of the woodwork,” lamented one jackpot winner whose own brother hired a hitman to kill him.
Actually, most people do just fine with their millions of fresh new dollars.
Jay Kurland built a practice giving legal and financial advice to jackpot winners. He’s now accused of fraud.
States should not rely on a scam to fund much-needed services.
To all the dreamers out there, we’ve got your answers. But you’re not going to like it.