If you really consider it, you will find an amazing number of life's situations that can be inherently risky. Nearly everything a person does is some type of gambling. Even with such mundane act of getting up and going to work, increases one's probability of being killed in a transportation accident. In face of today and everything you know about investing, whether it is in business, an asset class (stocks, bonds, real-estate, cash and commodities), or index fund, even in its most basic element, it is nothing but "betting" that someday tomorrow will probably be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or maybe not. There is just one big risk you should avoid and that is the risk of doing nothing and not taking your chance.
Come to look-at it in face value, investing in almost any money market really is, legalized gambling, per se. You may look at investing when it comes to chart formation, or you put your hard earned money in the utilities anticipating once they are "due", you cash in or again maybe not; or you choose to possess any one of the hundreds of analysts culling spreadsheets or fund index investors work on the fundamentals of investing for you in manufacturing, real-estate, cash and commodities-no matter what your reasoning for that, if that is not gambling, then what is? Basically, you are betting that in 5, 10 or 15 years from now there will be more people, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, dependent upon more gadgets-with hope you can cash in; or even not. You are basically "betting" on all of it.
So it is, with the lottery-a type of gambling with origins in Florence, Italy, where the first lottery was held within the 16th Century, then called the Lotto de Firenze, and quickly adopted by other Italian cities. It became a national
lottery, and still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in lots of other countries, including the United States. The lottery, as a type of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for a wide selection of winnings as well as for the massive jackpot prize. Gambling, like poker, blackjack, roulette, sports betting and racing, can involve skill or just chance alone; though the lottery doesn't require any special skills-set to play.
As with any risk, there's always something at stake. Even if you elect to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time and your reputation. The exact same things you stand to gain when you take the chance to start your own business. The lots you buy to play the lottery are today in the form of tickets as well as the prize is often a big sum of money. The draws are random and every player has an equal chance of winning the major prize which often grows really big with massive roll over jackpots.