1) Here's the lottery code for CA. Payouts are regulated - by it's nature, the odds of a lottery depend on the number of tickets, but typically, there are stric

1) Here's the lottery code for CA. Payouts are regulated - by it's nature, the odds of a lottery depend on the number of tickets, but typically, there are strict rules about the minimum % of receipts paid back to winners (which is effectively equivalent to setting house odds), and in many cases, only the state government can run them. http://static.www.calottery.com/~/media/Publications/Lottery_Regulations/Lottery%20Act%20for%20Website%2007-14.pdf http://static.www.calottery.com/~/media/Publications/Lottery... 2.) There's been multiple cases where lotteries were -accidentally- setup such that the odds were in the favor of players if they pursued the right strategy. Here's one: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/how-mit-students-gamed-the-lottery/470349/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/how-mit... A history of gains to investors aren't an definite indicatio that an investment is good, or that the overall odds favor the investor. If I go into a casino and win roulette 3 times in a row, that doesn't mean the wheel is biased in my favor. Similarly, in most ponzi schemes, all of the early investors make money. (And even in a non-fraudulent situation, simply having an investment go up doesn't mean it was a good investment, when examined on a risk-adjusted basis vs. other alternate options.)