Book Review
The Review

The Review

William P. Hoar
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States Peddle Impossible Fantasy

For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America, by Jonathan D. Cohen, New York: Oxford University Press, 2022, 288 pages, hardcover.

Gambling is usually a means of getting nothing for your money. Or, worse, it is a way for people to go broke by trying to get rich. A whopping 45 of the 50 U.S. states are deep into the pockets of their residents via this oh-so-legal enterprise, otherwise known as state lotteries. The products that they push as supposedly crucial money-makers for the state (though that is a lie) offer odds that are minuscule for players, otherwise known as bettors. 

Some dare call this a sucker bet. Others (such as the New York Lottery) insist: “You gotta be in it to win it.”

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