The new TV series Windfall is about a group of young people who collectively win a large lotto prize. For each person or couple that played, they win about 20 million each. The series shows what happens to each of them after they find out they’ve won.

The truth is, two film documentaries (one American and one Canadian) indicate that most large-prize lottery winners usually end up broke or even bankrupt within a year. They suffer from problems with their marriage and family life.

Other research says that it’s quite the opposite, and that most winners are happy and adjusted. Personally, I think it’s the former. Most people are just not prepared to handle a huge windfall.

But regardless of the problems they may or may not cause, lotteries are big business. Currently, most are run by state and provincial governments in the US and Canada, respectively, although that may change. Investment Dealer’s Digest, in their Illnois Lottery May Go Private article (may require free subscription or be otherwise unavailable), indicates that the Illinois state government  is considering privatizing the lottery business.

The reason for this, the article suggests, is because of the competition for gambling dollars “from online gambling, casinos and riverboat gambling.” Which might be another motive for states like Washington making online gambling illegal. (This applies to backgammon gambling as much as poker.)

Now, this might be a gamble in itself, but if governments start privatizing lotteries, you might consider a few gaming stocks. Because gambling, I believe, is part of human nature - simple because most humans typically take the path of perceived least resistance. Personally, I’d rather see various government lottery corporations running online gambling - such as poker - rather than banning the activity altogether.