Quote Originally Posted by Mister Adequate View Post
The talk about how unlikely you are to win is a little misguided though. I know the odds are atrocious, but so does pretty much everyone - that's why successful lottery playing isn't called "A prudent investment with a sound return on your money", it's called "Beating the odds". The whole point is that "if". However remote and unlikely, because hey - every week or two SOMEONE wins. Could be me. And if it is, everything changes.
I'm not sure how you define "misguided," but I would consider the flights of fancy that induce millions of people to waste money on 1 in a billion scams to be more misguided than, well, not doing that. The game is designed (rigged?) to make as many people waste as much money as possible. I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of people who play the lottery do not appreciate how truly remote the odds are.

It's also possible that someone will throw a wad of bills out of a car at you (and probably equally likely as winning the lottery), and at least standing by the road is free.