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Comment by yojo | Hacker News Reader

I used to think of the lottery as a suckers bet, until I realized that for some people it is basically their only shot at transformative wealth.

Put another way: If you’re poor, unconnected, and uneducated, your odds of becoming a billionaire are zero.

If you’re poor, unconnected, uneducated, and play the lottery, your odds are ever so slightly higher.

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This is ridiculous. First, it's untrue. Ask Dre or Jay-Z. More importantly, since when is "transformative wealth" hundreds of millions of dollars? If you grew up truly poor and uneducated, making a steady $80,000 a year -- decent house, raise a family, put a little away -- is a transformation.

The odds of ending up like Dr. Dre or Jay-Z are worse than the lottery and require even more significant time and monetary commitment. You’re better off going with your latter suggestion of trying to make a decent living which has pretty good odds.

ehh, going from poor to successful is hard and unlikely, but it’s a lot more likely than winning the lottery.

Maybe your best shot at becoming a billionaire is indeed winning some jackpot. But if you’re looking for anywhere from moderate wealth to millions, you’re much better off trying to find a job and start a business.

Neither am I poor, unconnected or uneducated, but I play the lottery once or twice a year since I enjoy the prospect of ridicules "transformative wealth".

So I buy my tickets as long as possible before the draw, get to fantasise about what if and have a couple of weeks of happy, crazy dreams.

To me that is worth the 10 or so bucks, no matter the odds being so badly stack against me, I guess that is so for many people (who are not addicted to gambling).

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