When the lottery hits $100M or more, I buy a few tickets. I don’t expect to win, but it’s a nice little dream. And it comes out of beer money.
I don’t think people should be spending hundreds on it, but if they want to throw that much away in 1 fell swoop, OK by me. Unless it’s welfare money meant to help feed their kids... THEN it isn’t.
I think I've bought four lottery tickets in my life, and it's been years since my last one. You are correct that you get a lot of dreams for your dollar, simply musing about winning, but I think for me, it was an even healthier endeavor.
Thinking about what I would do with the money forced me to really take a long hard look at my values and priorities and those persons and causes I hold most dear. In doing so, I also concluded that the odds of winning are so infinitesimally small that if God truly intended for me to win, He would give me a clear sign; hence, until and unless I get such a sign to play, I won't.