If you really consider it, you will discover an extraordinary 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 chances of being killed in a transportation accident. In face of today and everything you know about investing, whether it be in business, an asset class (stocks, bonds, real-estate, cash and commodities), or index fund, even in its most basic element, it is nothing but “betting” that someday tomorrow is going to be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or even not. There is just 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 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 is not gambling, then what is? Basically, you are betting that in 5, 10 or 15 years from now there will be more folks, 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 really is, with the lottery-a type of gambling with origins in Florence, Italy, where the very first lottery was held within the 16th Century, then called the Lotto de Firenze, and quickly adopted by other Italian towns. It became a national lottery, and still known today as the trusted lotto dealers in Italy, as also adopted and called in lots of other countries, such as the United States. The lottery, as a form of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for an assortment 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; though the lottery won’t require any special skills-set to play.

As with any risk, there is always something at stake. Even if you elect to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time as well as 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 within the type of tickets and the prize is usually a sizable sum of money. 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.