I've been interested in the topic for a long time as I have a relative who spends most of his income on lottery tickets. Any time I can, I ask people who play the lottery why they do it. Most of them spend a tiny amount and it's something they have a little bit of fun with their workmates or family, these are the "normals". But about 20% of the players account for 80% of the ticket revenue, these are the people playing out of desperation because they are in a poverty trap and they have no other way out. They are foregoing essentials to pay for the lottery tickets, so if they didn't play, they wouldn't accrue the money they "saved". These people are often on the brink: depressed, panicked and alone. A lottery ticket is a temporary "self medication" with which they can temporarily quiet their anxieties, until of course, they need the next hit.