State-sponsored lotteries represent a significant economic and social phenomenon across the United States, generating billions in annual revenue while promising life-changing jackpots to participants. However, a growing body of scholarly research and economic analysis reveals that lotteries function as a de facto regressive tax system, disproportionately burdening socioeconomically vulnerable populations while offering near-zero statistical probability of financial benefit. This report synthesizes empirical evidence on payout structures, income disparities in participation, cognitive biases in player behavior, and mathematical realities of winning odds to demonstrate how lotteries systematically transfer wealth from mathematically uninformed populations to state coffers. The Economic Mechanics of Lottery

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