What would you do if you won?

How many times, after buying a lotto ticket, have you dreamt of how you would spend your winnings? I dream, but I cannot spend it all in my head and I never win. But is it not wonderful to live in that dream world for a short time?

The arithmetical computations of the chances of your numbers being drawn, beyond the worth of calculation, yet someone almost always wins. The longer there is not a winner, the bigger that winning prize gets. The bigger it gets, the more time you dream of how to spend it. I often wonder if buying the 3 or 4 lines I invest in, is not for the chance to spend time in fantasy land.

Gambling, I'm told is addictive, certainly not for me, on the few occasions that I've been to a Casino, it's been to give them money. Not being a big gambler the wife and I will agree on five hundred each and when its finished, it's over. Well that takes me about ten minutes. I have a natural instinct to select the “thank you” one-arm-bandits, those, that when you pull the arm, or press the button, say “thank you” most polite and they say it every time.

The others around me can get pictures to stop on the demarcated lines, mine never do, I've even asked how they do it, but their looks warn me they're not going to share. I shout for joy when a single cheery stops on the line, I wait for ringing bells and flashing lights. Most of all, I expect to see coins gushing out of a hole, hidden somewhere on the machine. Those around me stare in disbelief at my antics, once when I got two pictures to end on the line, a cheery and an apple, both at the same time. I warned all around not to touch my bandit, while I went in search of my wife, to tell her the good news.

She has more luck than I, and can spend an hour or two with her money. Although not even she will share the secret with me. So while she plays, I stroll amid the gamblers giving their money to the casino in their own chosen way. I love to watch people and this seems an opportune time, older women and men, as well as the younger women all seem to sit glued to the bandits, the men folk at the tables, cards in hand, or watching a small ball carouse its way around a roulette drum.

The concentration and facial contortions displayed, similar to children writing for the first time. Men cowering as the roulette drum slows, card holders closing their eyes as the croupier deals the last card. Those on the bandits looking as if they are in a shoot out with the fastest gun in the west. Disappointment, when the tumblers turn that last ten degrees, robbing them of a fortune. Fists pumping the air when a line sought appears on the bandit, or the ball stops in the right place in the wheel.

Is the addiction for giving money away, or is it for winning? I've never seen anyone win big money in a Casino. Sure the Lotto has made many over night millionaires, but not Casinos, they're rig to win. No casino has gone belly up, bankrupt or placed into liquidation, no one I know has broken the bank of a Casino. Sure many robbed, but that's with a machine gun and wearing a face mask, not the sort of attire I wear when visiting. How then is there an addiction?

I don't know why I go to a Casino, it would be cheaper if I mailed them the five hundred and saved the petrol. The same goes for my odd splurge on the Lotto, but in this case at least I get the dreams that come with my ticket, how am I going to spend it. You should see me in my new car that I buy with every tickets dream.