Lottery Business in the United States

The state lotteries, perfectly legal under the American gambling laws are a national sport. Games such as Mega Millions (probably soon to be called Mega Billions as jackpots constantly rise due to more purchases of tickets) attract tens of millions of Americans in hopes of winning.

When it comes to mega lotteries, as above mentioned Mega Millions, or Powerball, the chances of winning one go to 1-in-several hundred millions. You may as well start a shoe-shining business and you get much higher chances of becoming a billionaire. And, of course, as many already know, the chances of getting struck by a lighting are higher than those of winning a lottery.

Yet, Americans, as well as other nations, just can’t stop buying lottery tickets. In the United States alone, over $50 billion annually is spent on these bets. Running a lottery business is very profitable as the laws of statistics can’t deny profits. Take, as an example, the recent Mega Millions jackpot won. It was an astounding $656 million, yet the ticket sales reached $1.5 billion. That leaves about $800 million in profit. Not bad.

Unfortunately, a regular mortal can’t enter this business as it is viciously protected by the states. Indeed, much of state revenues comes from lotteries. Now, many states are looking into allowing sales of lottery tickets via the websites as an enhancement to internet betting in United States options.

Lottery betting syndicates

To increase the slim chances of winning, many players form betting syndicates. If 50 workers in a company put in $20 each, the tickets can be bought for $1,000. Much more than if one individual can reasonably afford at a time. Of course, if the syndicate wins, the members need to split and dilute winnings. But, that’s a worry if it wins. And, as estimated, a third of wins are via syndicate purchases.

The sales of lottery tickets are growing and will soon be offered online or via mobile betting. No longer elderly grandmas will need to run in snow or rain to the store. All it’ll take is a smartphone. Given you know how to use one.