The lottery is a more benign form of gambling and doesn cause addiction, right?
Wrong. Depending what form of lottery people play, the lottery can be every bit as addictive as casino devices. In fact, research on video lottery terminals or VLTs (clones of electronic slot machines) found that these machines could lead to addiction in just over a year. Electronic gaming devices are the most addictive form of gambling in history.11 Ed Looney, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, estimates that about 5 percent of those who play a lottery become seriously addicted. He said most lottery players run on an 80-15-5 rule, meaning that of all the people who play, about 80 percent do so with no sign of compulsive behavior. About 15 percent are at risk for addiction, while the remaining 5 percent are in extreme danger of becoming pathologically addicted. “It becomes part of their daily life,” Looney said. “It begins to control them.”12 Among traditional ticket-lottery games, scratch-off or instant games are the most popular form of lottery ga
