If you really consider it, there are an amazing range of life's situations which are inherently risky. Nearly everything a person does is some form of gambling. Even with such mundane act of getting up and going to work, increases one's prospects 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 more than "betting" that someday tomorrow is going to be better with pleasant expected returns on investment; or possibly not. There is just one big risk you should avoid and that's 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 can 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 have 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's not gambling, then what is? Basically, you are betting that in 5, 10 or 15 years from now there will be lots of individuals, buying more stuff, utilizing more energy, determined by more gadgets-with hope that you can cash in; or maybe 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 cities. It became a national lottery, but still known today as the Lotto in Italy, as also adopted and called in lots of other countries, including the USA. The lottery, as a type of government-licensed gambling, involves drawing of lots for a wide selection 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; though the lottery isn't going to require any special skills-set to play.

As with any risk, often there is something at stake. Even if you elect 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 when 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 toto the prize is often a big sum of money. The draws are random and every player has an equal chance of winning the key prize which often grows really big with massive roll over jackpots.