PEOPLE who hope to get rich quick by playing lottery often end up with a big hole in their pockets.

However, while they may lose money chasing their numbers week in and week out, they seldom lose hope! To them, it’s not automatically irrational to gamble away half a month’s pay on lottery in pursuit of that one life-changing big strike. At the same time, it’s also odd that some people simply get a kick out of calculating the gain or loss from a relatively small outlay.

So it’s not strange to see people having a flutter for as little as a ringgit or dumping as much as RM1,000 on a set of numbers purely on gut feeling in the quest of a windfall. Whether we like to admit it or not, winning a lottery can transform fantasy into reality — such as from vacationing vicariously at an exotic destination to actually living out the fantasy.

It may be true to say people do not actually invest the money they spend on lottery. They just spend it and leave the rest to Lady Luck.

Mostly, it’s a case of “belief in possibilities and probability” — meaning one requires some real finite probability to support a belief in the possibility of escape. Even so, what is unavoidable is a scenario that could conceivably be realised that satisfies the conditions of the hoped-for fundamental transformation of one’s life.

This is probably one of the explanations why the poor play lottery more than the rich, and the middle-aged more than the young. More often than not, these punters rarely stop to think about lucky numbers or the real benefits lottery players get from merely buying tickets even if they do not win.

Sure, the poor buy lottery — they can construe their dreams as benefits if they want to. But is it desirable that anyone should bet?

As a side note — from thesundaypost’s standpoint — it can be said most of the lottery revenue comes from bettors who spend a significant amount of their income, hoping to change their luck. And it does seem people either spend thousands of ringgit a year on lottery or not at all.

But it gets especially tempting when there is a king-sized pot up for grabs. Still, as an educated guess, I would say lottery derives most of its revenue from people spending money they could not afford to lose.

Presently, there’s a slump in the global economy and not much good news around either to boost the spirit at work or at home. People are now talking more about the banking fiasco and the financial meltdown, especially in the so-called developed countries. Some are thinking up personal bail-out plans in case they fall victim. What if they get laid off ?

Unpalatable but undeniable — the harder the economic crunch bites, the better the turn-outs at the punting outlets. People are more ready to take a gamble that the ticket they buy may be a ticket out of the hard times.

Both locals and foreigners alike have their choice of either one or all the three popular lotteries here — Sports Toto, Magnum 4D and Cash Sweep. Each conducts three draws a week. There are at times special draws, normally on Tuesdays.

A general clerk in a private firm, who requested anonymity, admitted putting the money she made from packing lunch a few days each week, into a tri-weekly lottery.

She said with companies tightening their belts and not giving living allowances, she had to try making money elsewhere. But she conceded: “It’s highly unlikely to make money from lottery. It’s pure luck.”

Alex Hong, who owns a retail shop at Mile 10 Kuching-Serian Road, said he spent about RM50 or more on all the three draws a week.

“I play for fun and winning is a bonus. It’s part of entertainment. I look forward to every draw with excitement. If I strike, fine — if not, also fine,” he added.

Most spend RM10 or more each on every draw.

A self-employed man who wants to be known only as Nyan, asked: “How much can you buy with RM10 nowadays? But with just RM1.20, I probably can make millions if I strike Mega or Super (Sports Toto).”

“Definitely I won’t be crying over spending RM10 on tickets. Who knows, I might win something,” he reckoned.

A businessman, who identifies himself only as Lee, quipped: “I buy lottery because I’m confident of winning. If not, why buy?”

He admitted to hardly making a strike the whole year but would still spend some of his income on lottery, hoping to win … of course.

Several lottery outlets within the city claim they receive about 200 bets in one hour, especially on draw days. Long queues seem inevitable at these counters during the last one or two hours before the draw. Most say the global economic downturn has not affected sales, at least for now.

A lottery operator, identifying herself only as Lyn, said there were ups and downs in weekly sales but on average, their monthly collections had been good.

“It seems many people still spend on lottery despite the bad economy,” she noted.

There are a fair number of repeat punters — retired men and women among them — who may spend up to several hundred ringgit per draw but the lottery outlets understand their motivation.

Anna (not real name) who works at one of the outlets, said: “I guess everyone is looking for a rainbow.”

Big prize money of up to RM20 million as well as accessibility to lottery booths might have helped fuel the surge in sales.

Based on observations, most lotteries across the country are experiencing good sales.

“In these hard times, people are motivated to take a gamble and hope to win something. And some do,” noted a teacher, Amy (not real name).

Apparently, to lottery buyers, hope does spring eternal as they doggedly seek that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.