On Sunday, August 18, 2013 4:04:34 PM UTC-4, F. George McDuffee wrote:

Operationally, lotteries are Ponzi schemes in their most

elemental form, without the fig leaf of an asymmetry in

international postal reply coupon valuation [Ponzi], or the

magic of split-strike conversions in the stock markets

[Madoff].

Generally a Ponzi scheme pays out to the early investors using money from the later investors.

A lottery only pays who ever wins regardless of whether they were an early or late buyer of a chance.

Dan