A friend of mine who is a psychiatrist maintains that playing the lottery (in great moderation) is a good thing. “For a dollar week you buy a dream and we must always keep dreaming” is his motto.
If I were lucky enough to win a large amount, the first million would go to my shul – then……who knows – would invest it and just use the interest, at least for awhile until I made some decisions. My children and grands would be well looked after. Of course, you can only win if you have a ticket and usually forget to buy one. BTW, here in Canada all lottery winnings are taxfree.