I'm not entirely sure playing the lottery and speculating are such good ways of making money. Someone who's in it solely for the money is probably going to start a business before doing either of these things.
My observation is that entrepreneurs are NOT risk takers. They are very much risk-averse. This is a strange comment but as an entrepreneur, I differentiate between taking risk and mitigating ambiguity.
I don't gamble and I don't play the lottery. I think doing so would be taking undue risk because I have absolutely no control of the outcome.
On the other hand, doing startup is not risk to me because I believe I can control the outcome. It is just that the outcome is somewhat ambiguous which I know how to mitigate.
I suppose if I take a step back, this is not unlike the difference between an amateur gambler and a professional gambler. If I know how to count cards, I won't think that I am taking risk neither.
--Denny--