I believe that people's belief towards lottery has something to do with poverty as well. They know it would be impossible to win, there's even a saying in my country that you are more likely to be struck by lightning than winning a lottery. But why do people still continue betting? 'coz they know there's someone who won and they are simply hoping that oneday they would be that someone even if it is a punch to the moon. Lottery speaks for luck. And believe it or not, I know someone who won two times in lottery on my country. It was hard to believe at first but seeing how fast the transition came to their family, I understood why many people are too hooked up with it.
Your observation of the poverty-gambling nexus is intriguing. It reminds me of the concept of 'poverty tax', a term used to describe the pattern where those with less income tend to spend a disproportionate amount of their money on lottery tickets, enticed by the dream of a life-changing windfall.
Your frien, the habitual lottery player, is an interesting case. It's as if he's caught in the web of lottery's seemingly immense but rare rewards rather than focusing on sports betting where his skills can actually bring in steady wins. A classic case of ignoring a stream of small fish for the chance of landing a whale, I'd say. I feel rebelliously empathetic for him.
When it comes to lottery winning stories, I can't deny being sociologically absorbed. These narratives do seem overblown, dont they? Its like fishing tales where the fish keeps getting bigger with each telling. Rather than being sucked into this whirlpool, it's more constructive to develop a balanced approach, understanding the risks involved and not being overly swayed by the elusive mega jackpot.
A very witty answer Blitzboy.
Although I think (or hope) it is the exception, I remember seeing twice in my life how two different people buying the typical scratch and win coupons on the street, compulsively scratching and asking for "another one" until they ran out of change. Although this case is different from the lotteries I was talking about in the OP, if we take into account the probability vs. possibility question and the huge prices, both games would be comparable.
Both gamblers were middle to low class, judging by their appearance, so I think that they fit in the "spend a disproportionate amount of their money" category.
On the other hand, lottery winning stories seem to be extremely salient for some people, but even in the cases they aren't, the fact that news on big wins are several magnitudes higher than news on losses create a distorted view of reality. To refute this view, we have the mathematics.