Lottery is 'predatory’ toward the poor: Expert delivers scathing indictment of game he calls ‘a lie, a con'
Fox News
Playing the lottery is a popular game of chance, but one expert — Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling — reveals the darker side, including lives ruined by playing the lottery.
While many people play the lottery with dreams of financial freedom and an escape from their current reality, one national expert is sounding the alarm about the practice, saying "predatory" gambling is America’s "most neglected major problem." "How do I know that the recipient isn't teetering on the edge of a gambling addiction?" The financial exchange is "mathematically stacked against you," said Bernal, so "you will lose your money in the end – especially if you keep gambling." "More than 40 million Americans are experiencing harm caused by the greed of big gambling operators, and each one of them has a personal story that breaks your heart." "This government program of state lotteries has led her to a lifetime of hovering above the poverty line and will keep her there all of her remaining days." Deirdre Reilly is a senior editor in lifestyle with Fox News Digital.
Les Bernal is national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, an organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.