Heh. Best quote EVER from Dr. House: "I'm an addict. I have to find something I can turn up to 11 that won't rot my brain."
Gambling always seemed totally stupid to me, but I do sorta get that it's a compulsion, just like drink or drugs. I had a summer when I was a teenager when my mom worked at the concession stand at a nearby VFW, which had bingo every day. I got the bingo bug BAD... and then it dawned on me, that $50 pot I won, I had spent a couple hundred playing bingo before I won anything. That pretty much cured me of bingo.
We buy a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket or 5, when the pot gets really huge, but it's mainly on the principle of "if you don't play, it's IMPOSSIBLE to win," while realizing that playing in our desultory fashion only slightly improves our odds.
Andria