The lottery pays out 35% of all of the money that they take in. (Figures from my state. Illinois. Correct me if the national lotteries pay out more.) That means for every $1 that you put into the lottery, you have a expected payout based on probability of 35 cents. I won't play slot machines because they take 6 cents. This makes the lottery the worst investment, (If you can call it that.) that you can make. I will only buy one ticket when the lottery rolls over many times and goes over $100 million. The payout becomes better at that time. I went into a liquor store a few weeks ago and saw a woman buying $20 in scratch off tickets. Then she bought a half pint of jack. She should have bought no lottery tickets and bought a quart of jack. The lottery is a tax on the poor or stupid.