Maybe we should admit this that most of the Lotteries don't apllies using much money to get so people may not loose money like that as it has been felt with gambling, i remember some times ago when Lotteries are free and available for everyone to participate in, people got begged to take them and try out their chances, applying for lottery can be more easier and convenient fo get the opportunity for it application, but being selected is what takes the luck that not everyone is given.
Some people are willing to spend certain amount of money when they succeed in having prediction that they believe is accurate, but the bookie is far superior and knows what to do and determines the winning number so any effort will be in vain even if they use mathematics in making prediction.
I remember someone said that buying more lottery tickets would increase your chances of winning, but if you think about it this method doesn't increase your chances of winning but rather increases the budget used in betting on the lottery.
No one can really show effective ways or strategies for winning the lottery so if there are people who say various ways then it is just story not real and accurate proof.
Meanwhile, nowadays it is very rare to find free lotteries and even if there are they will never be profitable because anything that is free will never produce big profits.
Though i don't think that presently people also take their time in applying for lottery like before, moreover there's no more ongoing lotteries someone can apply for in their numbers like before, this is also one of the reasons maybe why some cannot even use their spare money to apply one, instead they may opt in for gambling, there's nothing as free or that common with lottery nowadays like in the last years, while most of them were even free and cost nothing to apply.