Some people I know that play the lottery just view it as entertainment. It's not really for me, but I can see their point.

> "They were still wrong for not quitting, even though they happened to get their pay out."

That makes no sense. When someone plays the lottery they don't put their life on hold until they win. Nobody seriously plans their life around a big lottery win, most people just play it for fun, the feeling of anticipation just before the draw. After a draw takes place and they've not won, they just go back to whatever plans they had before. Gambling addiction is more serious, but many people are casual gamblers, including those that play the lottery every week. I don't play the lottery often, but I can see for most people it's a harmless activity.

Obviously we can find a few cases that are the exception to just about any subject above physics. I was also hoping that, on a place as entrepreneurial as hacker news, I wouldn't have to explicitly exclude big wins where your chances of winning don't substantially increase with increases in experience. Nor did I think I would have to explicitly include things that take up less than a percent of a percent of your life.

Often it's the journey, not the destination, that holds the most fulfillment.

Winning isn't strictly about money.