at least on lottery tickets.
Hit the market today before supper and I noticed that there was yet another new $10 ticket offered at the local store.
Even when I was working I would rarely buy a lottery ticket. One in a great while I’d spring for a $1 ticket for the wife saying: “Hey it’s a gift to my brothers if I lose” (both work for the state). A $5 ticket was out of the question and a $10 ticket represented just too much work. I couldn’t imagine people paying that kind of money in tough time.
As I was checking out I asked the kid who had been working there for a few years if people’s lottery habits had changed, he answered: “It varies” and the conversation went like this:
“Varies?”
“Yeah it depends on the customer, the ones who are working or just lost jobs have cut down or stopped buying tickets all together, but the customers on food stamps, the ones who aren’t supporting themselves are buying more, a lot more.”
“Why do you suppose that is?”
“Well the state is taking care of them so they figure why not?”
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
A few years back, I was on vacation with my parents; between the three of us, we had $56 in cash that we decided would be fun to spend in the resort casino. When we were down to $22, I started playing and was losing miserably for the first three rounds on the slot machine. At round 4, however, I hit the jackpot: $300 in winnings. About half of those ill-gotten gains went to buying a dress – the one that I wore to Scott Brown’s victory party. So, gambling has its upsides!
Nevertheless, as a wise man once said to me: You can’t change the way you live by gambling; also, assume that you are not going to win anything and spend money for the entertainment value. If you have $56 to blow on vacation, have fun, but don’t assume that you’re going to change your lifestyle with your winnings, because that’s a recipe for disaster.