The low cost of playing the lottery can be very seductive to players who can wind up spending thousands of dollars chasing a dream of winning mega-bucks, says Temple psychologist Frank Farley. "It can be exciting, checking those winning numbers," says Farley. "Maybe something big might happen. There's not a whole lot of other things in your life where you put a small amount of money in and maybe something big will happen. It gives you a sliver of hope that you could turn your life around."