Like, it's too hard to win. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning. New Hampshire launched the first state lottery in 1964. The phenomenon quickly mushroomed. The phenomenon is big abroad, too.
Some states earmark the money for special purposes.
Lottery officials said about one-third of the proceeds from yesterday's Big Game will go for state programs like that. The rest will go for prizes and administrative costs. Tyler Cowen, there are some estimates that as many as 30 million, maybe even 40 million Americans bought tickets for this. Either they live in those seven states or they came from neighboring states. People play the lottery because it's fun.