Lottery is all about winning big prizes based on the luck of the draw. But it’s also a game in which players bet against each other, often with money that could be better spent on things like food or utilities. That’s what makes it so appealing to people, especially those with low incomes, who have few other ways to spend their cash.

In the past, lottery advertising focused on the wackiness of the games and how much fun it is to scratch a ticket. But these days, there are many other messages, including the one that lottery tickets are a great way to make money. This message obscures the regressive nature of lottery play, and it’s intended for people to take the activity lightly. But in fact, lottery commissions know that committed gamblers spend a good portion of their incomes on the games. And they do everything they can to encourage this behavior.

To do that, they make the jackpots appear to be bigger than life, a strategy designed to boost ticket sales and generate news coverage. They also limit the number of people who can win the top prize by requiring a certain percentage of the total pool to match the winning numbers. This is why so many lotteries are run by governments rather than private companies.

State-sponsored lotteries depend on a core group of regular players to drive profits and keep the games popular. Vox’s Alvin Chang reports that lottery sales disproportionately come from low-income communities and minorities, and that these players often struggle with gambling addiction. But he adds that state-sponsored lotteries try to make up for this by marketing their games as a way to help the poor.

While it’s true that lottery players do have irrational gambling habits, it’s also true that they’re largely aware that the odds of winning are long. That doesn’t stop them from chasing their dreams, however. They pick their favorite numbers, often involving dates of important events, and play in groups, which increases their chances of winning by reducing the number of people who share the same numbers. They even buy the same types of tickets at the same time.

But even though they’re fully aware that there’s a high chance of losing, they still hold out a small sliver of hope that this time, it will be different. That’s why so many of them play, and why some are willing to go to extreme lengths to do so.

Some of these extremes involve cheating, which isn’t the best idea because it’s a crime, and criminals usually wind up spending a large portion of their lives behind bars. Others are more subtle, but just as dangerous. These include the case of Abraham Shakespeare, whose body was found under a concrete slab after he won $31 million; Jeffrey Dampier, who was kidnapped and shot for his $20 million winnings; and Urooj Khan, who died shortly after he won a comparatively modest $1 million.