If you drive down the highway, there’s a good chance you see a lot of billboards for big-ticket lottery games. They dangle the promise of instant riches in an age of inequality and limited social mobility, and many people fall for the hype. They buy tickets, often a lot of them. Then they hope for the best, even though the odds are long.
If they win, the prize money comes in the form of a lump sum or an annual installment, which is generally more tax-efficient. A lump-sum payout allows the winner to use the money immediately, but it can also be tempting to invest it. This is a risky strategy that can backfire, as we’ve seen in the case of a woman who won a $2 million jackpot but lost all of it within 15 years.
Lotteries have been around for centuries, with the first records found in the Low Countries in the 15th century. Then, towns held public lotteries to raise funds for wall and town fortifications, or to help the poor.
A big part of winning the lottery is picking the right numbers. People often select a number or sequence that means something to them, like their birthdays or the ages of their children. But there’s no scientific reason to choose those numbers, a Harvard statistics professor says. Picking a more popular sequence can actually lower your chances of winning because hundreds of other people may be playing the same numbers as you.
