Why do people play the lottery? "It's entertaining, it's fun," said a lttery-board spokeswoman. Maybe so, but the main appeal surely is the prize money. Just about everybody could use a little extra money. And lotteries promise a lot of money. In today's uncertain world of escalating prices, stock-market crashes, and dead-end jobs, millions of people believe that winning the lottery is the only imaginable way for them to become fabulously rich.
Adding to the appeal, lotteries are uncomplicated and easy to play. There are many variations, such as Lotto, numbers, and games where you scratch the paper to reveal hidden numbers, but all of those share two features. The first is that players win when the numbers on their ticket match those drawn by the organizers. Second, unlike other forms of gambling, no special skill or knowledge is required to win. Winning or losing is a matter of sheer chance.
People also play lotteries because it's easy to buy tickets. Most Americans can buy them at the local grocery store. Elsewhere, if a lottery booth is not nearby,
players can place bets by mail, telephone, telex, or fax.
What's New About Lotteries?
Are lotteries new? Not at all. At festivities in ancient Rome, emperors Nero and Augustus gave away slaves and property as prizes. One of the first recorded cash prizes was probably paid in 1530 by a lottery in Florence, Italy. In the centuries that followed, lotteries flourished in Europe. Lotteries thrived in early America too, bringing in money that helped finance Jamestown, the Continental Army, and the building of prestigious universities, such as Havard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia.
In 19th century, however, the business ran into trouble, Opposers railed against mass gambling and charged that drawings were rigged. Lotteries were riddled with bribery, corruption, and criminal involvement. Private promoters raked in enormous profits. As a result, lotteries in the United States, France, and Britain were banned.
End of story? Obviously not. Lotteries continued to thrive elsewhere- Italy, for example, and Australia. Spain's Carlos III created a lottery in 1763; its modern
version was established by a law in 1812. Country after country leaped aboard the lottery bandwagon. In 1933, France lifted its ban and establised the Loteri nationale. Also in the 1930's, Ireland set up its famous Irish Hospitals ' Sweepstake. Japan's Takarakuji(lottery) got started in 1945. Britain OK'd football pools and premium bond drawings, lotteriesin fact if not in name. And in 1964 the United States got back into the business.
Then in the 1970's, two developments transformed the lottery operation. The first was the introduction of computers linked to retail terminals. Now it was possible to organize high-volume, high-frequency games in which players could choose their own numbers. No longer was it necessary to wait weeks or months to see if they'd won; players could find out in days, hours, or even minutes.
The second development was the introduction of Lotto, a game where the odds against winning are high. In Lotto, when the jackpot isn't won, it is carried over into succeeding games. Consequently, the prize money can build to millions of dollars. With Lotto, sales soared, and business became big, really big.
Appeal to Promoters of Lotteries
Why do governments promote gambling? Because it's an easy way to bring in money without raising taxes. Whereas slot machines as much as 95 percent of what they take in, lotteries pay back less than 50 percent. For example, in the United States in 1988, about 45 cents of every lottery dollar was paid back in prizes and 15 cents went for promotion, sales and administration. The remaining 37 cents was used to find public improvements, education, health care, and aid to the elderly. Nationwide, that amounted to $7.2 thousand million.
But governments do not organize lotteries just to make money. If they do not get into the business, they may lose money. Their citizens might play elsewhere. So when one country or state starts a lottery, its neighbors come under pressure to do the same. This snowballing effect is evident in the United States. In 1964 there was one State lottery; in 1989 there were 30.
Dreams of Wealth When It Comes to Lottery
Of course, there are plenty of people who are trying to get a piece of the consumer dollar. So how do promoters convince the public to spend money on lotteries? Advertising! Call in the professionals of persuasion!
Do advertisements stress that a portion of the proceeds will help fund education or provide care for the elderly? Far from it! That's true rarely mentioned. Instead, ads stress how much fun it would be to win millions of dollars.
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