You talk about how you spend the money. But most of all people like being part of a wave of collective enthusiasm. It's a modern form of tribalism, akin to celebrity. People like to participate in a collective endeavor in modern society, and this is the lottery. Greg Ziemak, I assume you know your target audience, you advertise to the target audience.
Lottery is entertainment.
People enjoy playing. The bottom line is it's entertainment and they enjoy it. They enjoy the play. I read the same poll. But there's another group of people called problem and compulsive gamblers.