jackpots in 2025 averaged 2.06 billion won ($1.41 million), which falls to 1.4 billion won once taxes are deducted.
That after-tax amount is below the average price of an apartment in Seoul, which was 1.5 billion won in December 2025, according to separate data compiled by KB Land, the property data tracker of KB Kookmin Bank.
I mean, I buy up to a dozen lottery tickets a year next door in Japan. Paying off the house would be first and, were I not already a homeowner, buying one would certainly top the list. Those lottery tickets amount to something like 3600 JPY a year which is probably like 20 USD or so. It’s not a financial plan, but I wouldn’t complain if I won. I used to spend more than that at starbucks in a month.
Spoiler alert: you won’t win.
Ah but I have won… just not enough to do more than pay for about a year’s worth of tickets. It’s not an investment strategy; it’s entertainment. If I ever get rich (and I don’t expect to), nice bonus.
That’s how they get you! Also, I meant the jackpot.
The chance of you playing your entire life and never winning a significant amount is much much much higher than you winning decently once.
Because those lottery businesses aren’t going to give out more money than they make. Your chance of getting more out of it than you put in is none.
But you do win every time you don’t play.
People waste their money on all kinds of dumb shit. Posters, pictures, plastic toys that will just end up in some landfill, etc. This is mine and I almost certainly spend a lot less on it (again, $20-$25 a year in USD depending on the exchange rate). I almost never eat out. I have real investments. This is entertainment.
Edit: to clarify, dumb here means not necessary. Support art and artists, but don’t by plastic stuff that’s going to end up in a landfill