If you really think about it, there are an extraordinary number of life's situations that can be inherently risky. Nearly everything a person 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's nothing more than "betting" that someday tomorrow is going to be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or even not. There is only 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 any money market really is, legalized gambling, per se. You can look-at investing with regard to chart formation, or you put your money within the utilities anticipating when they are "due", you cash in or again maybe not; or you decide to possess any one of 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 folks, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, dependent on more gadgets-with hope that you could cash in; or perhaps not. You are basically "betting" on all of it.

So it really is, with the lottery-a type of gambling with origins in Florence, Italy, where the first lottery was held in the 16th Century, then called the Lotto de Firenze, and quickly adopted by other Italian metropolitan areas. It became a national lottery, and still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in several other countries, including the United States. The lottery, as a form of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for a range of winnings as well as for the massive jackpot prize. Gambling, like poker, blackjack, roulette, sports betting and racing, can involve skill or simply chance alone; but the lottery isn't going to require any special skills-set to play.

As with any risk, often there is something at stake. Even when you decide to take the risk of starting a business, you stand to lose money, time as well as your reputation. The exact 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 within the form of tickets and the prize is usually a sizable sum of cash. 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.