The outcome of winning is positive in the sense of cashflow, but the actual outcome on you is more likely to be negative: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadam

The outcome of winning is positive in the sense of cashflow, but the actual outcome on you is more likely to be negative: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/11/28/why-winning-powerball-wont-make-you-happy/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/11/28/why-winnin... So while not winning in the lottery might seem like a bad outcome, in fact you've avoided an even worse one. Which confoundingly means rational winnings maximization strategies (such as picking less commonly chosen numbers to reduce the odds of sharing a prize) in fact make the expected outcome of lottery playing even worse.