The lottery is a game of chance played for prizes. Or, as the name suggests, it is also a form of gambling.

The lottery has been around since ancient times and is held in one variation or another in almost all big countries.

1.Don’t play the lottery if you don’t have income.

We all know that it’s a dream: Cracking that damn Jackpot!

Winning a large sum of money for only a few bucks per ticket? Sign me up.

However, you should not partake in the lottery if you don’t have the money for it. We know that a ticket is only a few bucks, but make sure that this really is only ‘fun money’ that you can afford to lose. You should not use income that is necessary for rent, groceries or other daily expenses. Only play with money you can afford to lose, otherwise you will find yourself in a downward spiral of gambling debt sooner than later.

2. Consider the odds

Playing the lottery is fun, we know. But the chances of hitting it big are quite small.

In a typical lottery where you have to draw 6 numbers out of 49 numbers the odds of hitting the Jackpot are merely 1 in 13,983,816. That’s extremely low. For Powerball the odds are even lower: Powerball 5 + Powerball Jackpot is 1 in 292,201,338.

You need to know that these odds are not in your favor. Here’s a great video on it:

3. Don’t make it a habit

You should not make it a habit to play the lottery. Gambling addiction is a real thing and you can quickly find yourself in high debt. So approach the lottery with a rational mind.

Play when you have some excess income or when the Jackpot is mile-high. Don’t play just to play. That’s a recipe for disaster. We recommend to check out the tips at Home Win – they have a lot of resources and tips dedicated to the lottery. Pretty cool for beginners.

Overall if you stick to a few lottery tickets here and there, you’ll be golden. You get the excitement and the fun without losing much.

4. Learn to walk away

Don’t get discouraged that you didn’t win the big Jackpot. If you didn’t have the winning ticket, don’t be sad or angry. The lottery is a huge gamble, there are millions of other people that also didn’t win anything. That’s how the lottery works and how they make money.