If you really think about it, you’ll find an amazing number of life’s situations which are inherently risky. Nearly everything someone does is some form of gambling. Even with such mundane act of getting up and going to work, increases one’s chances 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’s nothing but “betting” that someday tomorrow is going to be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or maybe not. There is only one big risk you should avoid and that’s 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 can look at investing with regards to chart formation, or you put your hard earned money within the utilities anticipating when 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, determined by more gadgets-with hope that you may cash in; or possibly 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 in the 16th Century, then called the Lotto de Firenze, and quickly adopted by other Italian cities. It became a national lottery, but still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in many other countries, such as the USA. The lottery, as a form of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for a wide selection of winnings and for the massive jackpot prize. Gambling, like poker, blackjack, roulette, sports betting and racing, can involve skill or simply chance alone; but the lottery does not require any special skills-set to play.

As with any risk, there’s always something at stake. Even when you opt to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time and your reputation. The same things you stand to gain whenever 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 cash. The draws are random and every player has an equal chance of winning the key prize which often grows really big with massive roll over jackpots.