Lotteries Vs Casino Games

Though you’ll find at least one casino in every major city around the globe, they still fall way behind lotteries in terms of players or gamblers. In fact, after being conceived in Italy in the 1400s, the lottery has far out-played any other form of gambling over the centuries and even in the present day. So what is it that drives people to spend their money on a weekly ticket. Let’s have a look at the battle between lotteries vs casino games.

Low Cost

This is maybe the most important consideration. These days, wherever you are in the world, you’re only $1 or $2 away from winning a lottery. So, assuming that you might buy a handful of tickets each week, that’s a mere $10. So it’s not like you losing any considerable sums of money. Casinos on the other hand are set up differently. They encourage you to play and keep playing at a pretty fast pay rate. To the end, you’re risking much more money, even over the short term.

For example to illustrate this point:

You’re playing blackjack.
The minimum bet is $10 per hand.
You’re dealing with a 1% house edge.
The table sees 70 hands per hour.
10 x 70 x 0.01 = $7 in theoretical losses per hour
You play for five hours.
7 x 5 = $35 in overall losses

Lotteries vs Casino Games: Huge Lottery Jackpots

Probably the prime driving force behind buying any lottery ticket is the fantasy of being the one to win. These massive progressive jackpot lotteries can have prizes of over 9 figures. Lotteries like the Mega Millions and Powerball have become famous for their massive jackpots. In fact, together they have both paid out over $1.5 billion. Then there are the International lotteries like the EuroMillions and Super Enalotto, which also offer life-altering amounts of cash. With International lotteries, you don’t need to win the first prize to make it big, as state-level prizes are also worth over 8 figures.

At the casino, there are plenty of large progressive jackpot games to be won. An example would be Microgaming’s Mega Moolah which gave some lucky punter a $21 million jackpot. Megabucks once gave out a prize of $37.9 million. So, though casinos can certainly make a player a millionaire, the actual amounts tend to be much less than those countrywide lotteries.

Available Online and at Land-Based Retailers

If you think back, internet gambling has been with us for almost a quarter of a century. Putting it like that makes us feel mighty old! At the same time as having casino gambling online, you can also buy your lottery tickets online as well. Funnily enough, online lotteries aren’t as popular as tracking off down to the local lottery office or convenience store to buy a real paper ticket. Yes, there are any number of scratch lotteries online, buy the traditional form remains stronger than ever,

Perfect for “Get Rich Quick” Dreams

Though many casinos still offer games with some serious prizes, you really need to be playing the right game at the right casino in order to hit pay dirt. Not all casinos offer large progressive jackpots. But the lottery is probably the easiest to play and the best game for someone who’s dreaming of getting very rich very quickly. Probably the MegaMillions and the PowerBall offer the most consistent money-making opportunities. Tough if you want a real laugh, you should probably check out your chances of winning.

Lotteries vs Casino Games: Mainstream Acceptance

Partly because of the games on offer, casinos often fall to the charge that they are encouraging problem gamblers. Opponents will be quick to point out how addictive the slots machines are, how they are designed to hook gamblers, and cause huge losses in the short run. In fact, the same could be said of any casino game, more especially when you realize exactly what the purpose of the house edge is.

For some reason, the lottery doesn’t invite this same type of criticism. In fact, lottery gambling is excepted all around the world, and more importantly, it’s absolutely legal. Probably the casual play element is an important factor. Most people only buy a few tickets each week. Also, most of the income from lotteries tend to go towards “good” causes and charity.

Lotteries vs Casino Games: Easy to Play

Sitting at the casino games table, and the chances are that you will be playing a game whereby some sort/form of strategy is needed. Whether blackjack or poker will both require some skills and well as some luck. For some players, these games can appear to be too complex, more so in that, you’re often sitting among more experienced players. Some of these casino games are not quick to master and you’ll need a lot of practice before you take your seat. This is without doubt why so many players head straight for the slot machines on entering the casino. It’s all simpler and even an absolute beginner can pick it up in a couple of seconds.

But the chance to win big via a lottery ticket, with such a simple purchase arrangement, means that you can have your lottery ticket, along with your chosen numbers in a minute. All you do is buy the ticket, mark the numbers, hand it back to the convenience store clerk, who’ll then print off the ticket and give you a receipt. Then there are the “Quick Picks” options for those in a super hurry. You just choose the ticket and the machine selects the numbers for you. With this sheer ease of use, in lotteries vs casino games, lotteries are the easy winner.

Players Form Lottery Pools

Yes, you could say that there have been blackjack teams like the famous MIT team. But on the whole, blackjack and many other table games are a singular activity. But with the lottery, you can team up with other players. In this way, you form what’s called a “lottery pool” because you are all pooling your resources in the hope of a win, which you can then divide out among yourselves. It goes without saying that this team approach gives everyone a better opportunity of winning. In fact, data shows that more and more lotteries are being one by-poll player.

Lotteries vs Casino Games: Major Media Coverage

Lotteries and their winners have always enjoyed a great relationship with the press. Whenever there’s a big winner, you’ll find their story in the media. The media really like the idea of a narrative, so they enjoy building up a story, a sort of before the prize and after the prize, if you like. Unfortunately, casinos don’t enjoy the same treatment. We would suggest that it’s all about social acceptance of gambling. The lottery seems to get a free pass on this matter.

Conclusion: Lotteries vs Casino Games

The truth is that playing the lottery or playing a casino table game doesn’t really have that much between them. Table games do offer more of an experience, that’s for sure. But it all depends on just how seriously you take your gambling. But we think that there’s a different person who’s buying lottery tickets. And they are not the type to enjoy casino games. As they say, different horses for different courses.