If you really consider it, there are an amazing range of life’s situations that can be inherently risky. Nearly everything a person does is some form of gambling. Even with such mundane act of getting up and going to work, increases one’s prospects of being killed in a transportation accident. In face of today and everything you know about investing, be it in business, an asset class (stocks, bonds, real estate, cash and commodities), or index fund, even in its most basic element, it really is nothing but “betting” that someday tomorrow will probably be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or even not. There is only one big risk you should avoid and that is the risk of doing nothing and not taking your chance.
Come to look at it in face value, investing in almost any money market really is, legalized gambling, per se. You may look at investing in terms of chart formation, or you put your money in the utilities anticipating when they are “due”, you cash in or again maybe not; or you decide to have any one of the hundreds of analysts culling spreadsheets or fund index investors work on the fundamentals of investing for you in manufacturing, real estate, cash and commodities-no matter what your reasoning for that, if that is not gambling, then what is? Basically, you are betting that in 5, 10 or 15 years from now there will be more people, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, determined by more gadgets-with hope you can cash in; or even not. You are basically “betting” on all of it.
So it is, with the lottery-a form of gambling with origins in Florence, Italy, where the first lottery was held within the 16th Century, then called the Lotto de Firenze, and quickly adopted by other Italian metropolitan areas. It became a national lottery, and still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in lots of other countries, such as the United States Of America. The lottery, as a form of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for an assortment of winnings and then for the massive jackpot prize. Gambling, like poker, blackjack, roulette, sports betting and racing, can involve skill or simply chance alone; though the lottery isn’t going to require any special skills-set to play.
As with any risk, often there is something at stake. Even if you choose to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time and your reputation. The same things you stand to gain when you take the opportunity to start your own business. The lots you buy to play the lottery are today within the form of tickets as well as the prize is often a sizable sum of cash. The draws are random and every player has an equal chance of winning the main prize which often grows really big with massive roll over jackpots.
