Lottery Addiction: Why Won't the "Maybe This Time" Hope Let Go?

What is lottery addiction, and when do lotto tickets become a problem? Read about the psychology of hope, the signs and how to regain control.

Picture someone who stops at the same lottery kiosk every Thursday evening, fills in the coupon with the same numbers and turns up the television at the time of the draw. From the outside it looks like a harmless habit; nobody thinks of them as "gambling". Yet for some people lotto, lottery tickets and scratch cards stop being a weekly bit of fun and turn into something that shapes their budget, their mood and their family relationships. Lottery addiction, or addiction to games of chance, usually develops not through one large loss but through the build-up of small yet frequent spending and a hope that never quite goes out. In this article we look at why the "if only it comes up" thought is so powerful, how to recognise the problem and what can be done to regain control.

What Is Lottery Addiction? When Does an Innocent Ticket Become a Problem?

In mental health, gambling disorder is defined as a person losing control over games of chance in which they stake money or something of value, and continuing to play despite negative consequences. Lotto, the national lottery, scratch cards and similar number games fall within this scope. The fact that they are legal and easy to play at kiosks, in supermarkets and even through online channels makes them look more innocent, but it does not remove the risk.

What turns a ticket into a problem is not the amount but the relationship. The difference between buying a New Year lottery ticket once a year and scratching scratch cards several times a day is not only about money. In a problematic picture, the person experiences playing as a need, becomes restless when they miss a draw, avoids adding up what they have lost and begins to hide their spending from those close to them.

Another feature of games of chance is that the addiction progresses quietly. Unlike online betting, large losses in a single night are not usually seen. Instead, every week there are a few more lines, a few more games, a few more visits to the kiosk. The person who works out their total spending at the end of the year often cannot believe the figure they see.

Why Is the "If Only It Comes Up" Hope So Powerful?

What keeps people playing games of chance is not winning but the feeling that the possibility of winning gives them for a while. In the time between buying the ticket and the draw, the mind imagines what it would do with the jackpot: the debts disappear, a house is bought for the children, retirement comes, a return to the hometown becomes possible. This daydream opens a breathing space of a few days in the middle of everyday hardship. What a person actually buys is not a piece of paper but hope.

Some mental traps feed this hope:

• The near-miss effect: Matching five of six numbers, or missing the third symbol on a scratch card after two matches, creates a feeling of "I came so close". Yet this is not closeness; it is simply another loss. The brain, however, records these moments as partial success and increases the urge to play.
• The illusion of choice: The feeling that numbers you pick yourself are luckier than those the machine gives at random. Birthdays, old number plates and numbers seen in dreams give a person a kind of sense of control.
• The "my turn is coming" fallacy: The thought "I've been playing for years, it's bound to come up for me now". Each draw is independent of the one before; having lost in the past does not increase the chance of winning in the future.
• News of winners: Stories about which kiosk in which province sold the jackpot ticket appear often, but the millions who lose never make the news. The visible examples make winning seem more likely in the mind than it really is.
• The fear that "the week I stop, it'll come up": For someone who has played the same numbers for years, this is the hardest thought. The fear that their numbers will come up the very week they do not play, leaving them with a lifetime of regret, is like an invisible chain tying them to the game.

What is bought in a game of chance is often not the jackpot, but permission to imagine a different life for a few days.

Signs of Lottery Addiction: Questions You Can Ask Yourself

None of the questions below amounts to a diagnosis on its own. But if you answer "yes" to several of them, it may be time to look more closely at your playing habits.

• Has the amount you spend on games, or the number of games you play, increased in the last few months?
• Do you avoid working out how much you have spent in total?
• Do you feel tense when you miss a draw or cannot get to the kiosk?
• Have you ever bought tickets with money set aside for bills, rent or groceries?
• Do you hide from your spouse or family how much you play?
• When you win a small prize, do you immediately put it back into playing?
• Do dreams, signs or "lucky" days determine your decisions to play?
• Do you increasingly see the solution to your financial difficulties in a big jackpot?

The last question is especially important. As addiction to games of chance deepens, the person stops looking for realistic solutions to their problems and starts waiting for a rescue that will fall from the sky. That waiting keeps them stuck in place, both financially and emotionally.

Cost-of-Living Pressure, New Year Tickets and Kiosk Chat: The Place of Games of Chance in Turkey

In Turkey, games of chance are deeply woven into everyday life. The New Year lottery ticket is almost a tradition; colleagues buy a shared ticket at work, and grandparents give tickets to their grandchildren as presents. The neighbourhood lottery kiosk can be a place where retirees meet and chat. This social acceptance makes the problem harder to notice. The thought "everyone plays" stops a person from seeing how far their own spending has drifted from other people's.

Economic conditions also play an important role. In times when the cost of living rises and wages do not last until the end of the month, the feeling that "I can't get out of this debt by working" becomes widespread. In the middle of such hopelessness, the big jackpot starts to look like the only reachable way out. Unfortunately, as hardship grows, so does the amount played, and the struggle to make ends meet deepens. We discuss the effects of economic pressure on mental health in detail in our article on the cost of living and mental health.

Addiction to games of chance can easily be overlooked among retirees and people past middle age. Once the children have grown up and left home and working life has ended, the empty hours of the day can fill up with trips to the kiosk and waiting for the draw. In that case the game provides not only money but a structure to the day and social contact. So stopping means giving up not just an expense but a routine as well.

Let's say a retired father in his sixties spends part of his pension every week on various games of chance. One day his children find hundreds of used coupons in a kitchen drawer. The father's first reaction is "It's my money and my pleasure." Yet when the conversation goes deeper, it becomes clear what the days alone at home since his wife's death, the chats at the kiosk and the draw evenings mean to him. In a situation like this, it is not only the spending that needs to be talked about but the loneliness too.

Steps You Can Take to Regain Control

If you want to change your relationship with games of chance, start by seeing the real picture.

Do the sums

Work out how much you have spent on games of chance in the last three months. Kiosk receipts, bank transactions or your online account history can help with this. Facing this figure is uncomfortable, but decisions made in uncertainty are always riskier. Then also write down the prizes you won in the same period and put the two figures side by side.

Move the hope somewhere else

When you stop buying tickets, your need to daydream does not disappear. Make a list of the things you dream about and think of a small, reachable part of each one. Saving your weekly ticket money in a separate account can, after a year, turn into something concrete, however small. This turns the hope on paper into a goal in real life.

Face the fear of "what if it comes up that week"

If you have played the same numbers for years, this fear will certainly come when you stop. Remind yourself: the chance of your numbers coming up is just as low whether you play or not. To ease this fear, some people choose to tear up the paper with their old numbers on it, or to stop following the draw results.

Change your routines

Small changes such as taking a different route so you do not pass the kiosk, being out of the house at draw times or staying away from supermarket tills that sell scratch cards break automatic behaviour. If you are retired or your days are empty, it is important to find the social contact the kiosk provided somewhere else: a chat at the local tea house, the mosque congregation, a neighbourhood association, a regular day with the grandchildren.

Close the online channels

Playing number games on your phone removes the effort of going to the kiosk, so it can increase how often you play. Deleting the apps, removing saved card details from your account and temporarily switching off your card's online transactions through your bank's app make it harder for the urge to turn straight into action. Even having to walk to the kiosk sometimes buys enough time to change your mind.

Do not replay a small prize

If, while you are stopping, a ticket you still hold wins a small prize, decide in advance to put that money towards your debt or spend it on something you need rather than on new coupons. Telling someone close to you about this decision makes it harder to back down in the excitement of the moment.

Share it

Telling someone close to you how much you play eases the burden that secrecy creates. Family members, too, should take care to open this conversation with concern rather than in an accusing tone. Saying "I think you've been struggling a bit with this lately, can we talk?" instead of "Another coupon?" reduces defensiveness.

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

If you cannot cut down on playing through your own efforts, or if restlessness and tension become unbearable when you do cut down, getting support is helpful. The following situations in particular are important signs:

• If you have started playing with money set aside for basic needs, or have borrowed money to do so,
• If games are causing frequent arguments and trust problems in the family,
• If, alongside games of chance, you have also turned to online betting or other forms of gambling,
• If you have felt low, hopeless or helpless for a long time.

For information and referral on addiction you can call ALO 191 (Turkey's addiction advice line), or apply to hospital psychiatry outpatient clinics or AMATEM units (state addiction treatment centres). If depression or anxiety is also present, an assessment by a psychiatrist may be needed. If hopelessness turns into thoughts of harming yourself or not wanting to go on living, call 112 (emergency services) without delay.

How Is a Games-of-Chance Problem Addressed in Therapy?

In therapy the first aim is often not to forbid playing but to understand the relationship the person has built with the game. Cognitive behavioural therapy offers a structured path here. In sessions, beliefs about games of chance are taken one by one: "These numbers bring me luck", "I came so close", "It's my turn now". How these thoughts clash with the facts of probability is examined through concrete examples.

Alongside this, we look at which need the game meets. For some it is hope, for some an occupation in loneliness, for others a refuge from financial helplessness. Once the need is understood, healthier ways of meeting it are sought together. The hopelessness created by financial hardship is also an important topic in therapy, because as hopelessness lessens, the need for a big jackpot lessens too.

At a behavioural level, the situations that trigger the urge to play are identified and plans are made for them. If family support is needed, joint sessions with relatives can be arranged. This process can be carried out face to face or online as part of individual therapy. If you are curious about fast-paced and online forms of gambling, as distinct from games of chance, our article on betting addiction may also be a useful guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

I only play lotto. Does that count as gambling too?

Staking money on a game whose result depends on chance is regarded, from a mental health point of view, as gambling behaviour. This does not mean everyone who plays lotto is addicted. What matters is the place the game takes up in your life, the amount you spend and whether you can keep control of it.

Is buying a New Year lottery ticket risky too?

For most people, a ticket bought once a year without straining the budget does not cause a problem. However, for someone who has previously had trouble controlling games of chance, even a single ticket can restart the old habit. In that case it may be safer to set this tradition aside for a while as well.

My father spends his pension on games of chance. How should I approach him?

Try talking first not about money but about how his days go. Keep in mind the possibility that the game is filling loneliness or emptiness. When you discuss money, it is more effective to suggest making a budget plan together rather than shaming him, and to encourage him to get support from a professional if needed.

Why does winning small prizes make things worse?

Small wins that come now and then strengthen the brain's impression that the game works. The person usually puts the winnings back into playing rather than saving them, and goes on losing overall. These irregular rewards are among the things that make the habit hardest to break.

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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