I hadn’t bought a lottery ticket since the 80’s, but now I’m chipping in with co-workers on Powereball. If I don’t play, with my luck those fuckers will win and leave me behind, so I can spare a few bucks a week to prevent that possibility, no matter how slim the chances.
From a rational point of view, buying lottery tickets is stupid. I might as well drain my money through the toilet.
On the emotional level, however, I am able to trick/fool myself into believing that I could actually be incredibly rich and partake in the lifestyle of the rich and famous. This emotion may last from a couple of minutes up to several hours. It makes me feel good. At the end of the day, I would consider it money well spent. Also, there are no adverse effects like a hangover and I can easily afford it.
Yeah, my ex calls it a ‘license to daydream’.
The NY Lotto’s tagline for many years was, “Hey, you never know!”
I remember reading about some lottery winners who did alright. However, one had to quit his job. He won a few million and decided he would keep working. the guy at the next desk started with “you have lots of money, you should pay off my mortgage.” It went downhill from there, apparently non-stop harassment about how cheap and stingy he was because he had more money than he needed and this guy had debts. After a while he decided he didn’t need the harassment.
Many other people reported the same, idiots coming out of the woodwork - not just long-lost relatives, but total strangers showing up and asking for money and help. Apparently some people have no shame or an extreme sense of entitlement (or think you’re a sucker for a sob story).
Not exactly the same, but there’s an episode of “30 For 30” ( - YouTube ) about pro athletes with multimillion dollar salaries who are also broke within a few years. One fellow said his friends knew exactly when payday was, and they were waiting for him with their hands out when he came out with his paycheque. Being the one guy in the poor neighbourhood (hood) who struck it rich, they somehow felt they had to help their old friends and did not know how to say “no”. they’d buy more and more stuff on installment with no appreciation for how payments were adding up. (Buy mama a house, you better pay cash or hope you have a 25-year career in the pros to finish the mortgage) Also, few had the preparation for handling a windfall or planning for a future when only no more money was coming in - almost the same situation as lottery winners. (Being a top pro athlete is almost like winning the lottery).
But yes, $1M after taxes is not a lot of money nowadays to last you 40 years or more.
As for playing the lottery, your odds of wining are much better once you buy that first ticket. After that, the extra tickets help less and less, the law of diminishing returns.
I think of lotteries as a stupidity tax - the dumber you are, the more you have to pay. I only pay $6/week. 
Exactly my situation. I would never hear the end of it…
Can I, as an American, do this?
Having googled it appears to be no.
Can you find somewhere that you can invest a couple grand, and then spend the interest yourself on lottery tickets? That’s basically the deal with Premium Bonds. Your chances of winning, and your take, are based on the interest your money would be earning - invest a thousand pounds and you’re in with about the same chance as if you spend one pound a week on a lottery. You will never lose the thousand, but you lose the interest.