If you really consider it, there are a remarkable number of life’s situations that 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 prospects of being killed in a transportation accident. In face of today and everything you know about investing, be it in business, an asset class (stocks, bonds, real-estate, cash and commodities), or index fund, even in its most basic element, it really is nothing more than “betting” that someday tomorrow will probably be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or even not. There is only 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 with regard to chart formation, or you put your money in the utilities anticipating once they are “due”, you cash in or again maybe not; or you choose to possess any among 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’s not gambling, then what is? Basically, you are betting that in 5, 10 or 15 years from now there will be lots of individuals, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, dependent on more gadgets-with hope that you could cash in; or perhaps not. You are basically “betting” on all of it.

So it’s, 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 metropolitan areas. 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 USA. The lottery, as a form of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for a range of winnings and then for the massive jackpot prize. Gambling, like poker, blackjack, roulette, sports betting and racing, can involve skill or just 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 if you decide to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time and also your reputation. The 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 and the prize is usually a large sum of cash. 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.