It's a cycle
At the start the company needs to invest money to attract people to gamble
So at start it will probably be people that are poor and get a minimum wage, that will bet to get a small winning
Then more money will come in, the prizes are bigger and more middle class people are attracted to the money
Which means more people, fewer odds to win
To some people it starts as trying to get some added income, and develops into a routine
one of the problems is that people don't keep track of their losses and winnings
If you'll tell someone he probably looses more than he wins, he might bring up some rare time where he won 600$
And also some people who are poor just can't loose the option to win a lot of money
Even if the odds are small
I've seen more people that are poor or have a low income buy lottery tickets than people that want to get rich quick
as to sports you have more information about the teams, and you can make a wiser bet, but some people like to bet on their favorite team and they think it shows support for the team
but in reality the lost money doesn't go to the team, and if you bet wisely you can support a local team by donating some of it, or start a local team etc.
as for horses, it's simple and it seems you have more of a chance to win
there are favorites, and there is only one winner
and the jockeys have control of the horses during the race, and it's more suspenful.
And there are also various rules to prevent cheating  |