If you really consider it, you will find a remarkable number of life's situations which are inherently risky. Nearly everything someone does is some type 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, be it 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 maybe not. There is just one big risk you should avoid and that is 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 when it comes to chart formation, or you put your hard earned money within the utilities anticipating once they are "due", you cash in or again maybe not; or you decide 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 people, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, reliant on more gadgets-with hope that one can cash in; or possibly not. You are basically "betting" on all of it.

So it 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, but still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in many 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 simply chance alone; although the lottery isn't going to require any special skills-set to play.

As with any risk, there's always something at stake. Even if you elect to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time and your reputation. The same things you stand to gain whenever you take the opportunity to start your own business. The lots you buy to play the lottery are today in the form of tickets and the prize is usually a big sum of money. The draws are random and every player has an equal chance of winning the major prize which often grows really big with massive roll over jackpots.