Let’s rethink Play

tldr; Many people struggle with gambling, spending money they can’t afford and then go into penny-pinching or deferring important life goals and saving. It is a detrimental financial habit. The associated financial mental stress often reduces their quality of life. Only way to solve it at scale is to use tech and reduce barriers to building good financial habits for a safer, healthier and happier world. It’s a multi-Trillion dollar TAM with no tech incumbents at scale. A blank space ripe for innovation.

[Why] Personal motivation

Gambling is addictive. I have bought lottery tickets, participated in sports betting, and traded 0DTE options. I love the excitement of planning a bet, the anticipation of what if I am right and how much money I could make, the tension of waiting for results, even the stomach-churning feeling when I get it horribly wrong. But I hate how much money I must put at risk, the stigma of gambling, and the guilt of how much money I have lost and can’t get back. What if we could scratch the gambling itch with a safer game? And, even better, what if the game was actually not offensive to others? What if I didn’t have to hide it from my partner, family, friends, and colleagues? What if it was a harmless activity like playing Catan? What if we built Anti-Gambling?

I don’t want to quit; I just don’t have any more money to lose.

[What] The Problem

Playing Lottery is irrational. But winning the lottery means leaving the old life behind. “I have a dream and I feel one day I’m going to be a millionaire, and the only way that will happen is if you take chances.” Lottery regulars have no doubt that it is worth a few dollars for a chance to make their dreams come true.

But this dream comes at a substantial cost.

Here is the data:

How bad is it?

· In the poorest 1% of zip codes that have lottery retailers (average household income of $25,000 per annum), the average American adult spends around $600 a year, on lottery tickets.

· Whereas casinos keep less than 10% of the money wagered on slot machines, state lotteries keep around 30% of ticket sales, on average. This makes lottery an extremely negative sum game, a tax on the stupid.

Ok it’s a big problem, but why does it matter?

· For a $25,000 income household, $600 spent on lottery tickets is material. Many lottery regulars go into penny-pinching or deferring important life goals and saving. The associated financial mental stress often reduces quality of life.

· “I realized that the lottery is always going to be about the substantial win. Whether I liked it or not, playing the lottery divided my life into the present and some glorious, abundant future. It was a subconscious declaration that said “I am treading water now but I can really start living when that substantial win comes in”. But playing the lottery can make you miss happiness now. You see your current reality, no matter how rosy it is, no matter how content you may feel, can never, ever compete with a fantasy future.”

· “I wish I could reverse all the lottery plays and get back all my money I lost. If I just get my $50K back, I will never play lottery again.” Lottery sells hope for a better life, but it delivers on that promise for only a few people each year. What begins as a fun activity of picking numbers or scratching a ticket can quickly devolve into a routine, then a habit, and ultimately an addiction.

Ok but at least it’s fun, right?

· “I don’t know why Powerball rolls to $2 Billion, $700 Million. All I want is to win once so that I can buy a new car or pay off my mortgage a little earlier. Why don’t they change the lottery to benefit more people?” “How long have you played, and what is the maximum you have won at once?” “Me and my husband have played for 25 years. I once won $500!”

· “Playing the lottery is so boring — I buy a ticket, I check the results, I lose”

· “The more I play, the harder it is to check the prize. While I ALWAYS get my tickets checked by machine at the store, it would be nice to know on the night if one of my combinations is a winning one. I have a lot of tickets to check and it’s just not easy to check them all by hand.”

· “We play in pools (groups). I do all the legwork for our group of 9 players with paper and pen. Why can’t lottery company build us a tool for tracking who is playing for that draw, collecting $2, taking photos of tickets, calculating winnings, keeping ongoing ledger?”

My vision

I want to attempt to solve this problem of gambling.

I want to scratch the gambling itch, and fulfill the dreams of a gambler with a safer game.

I want to build a Play company, an Anti-Gambling social company that is built for humans to thrive.

A company that doesn’t make you feel guilty and sad about how you are spending your time and money, but instead makes you feel excited, happy, connected, and blessed. I want it to be the best hour of your day!

A company that uses cutting-edge knowledge and technology and is built for decades to come.

A company that does all of the above while building a multi-billion dollar business.

I am doing this for myself and for every gambler to have a safer, healthier and happier experience!

Let’s talk money.

The business case.

· Lottery ticket sales grew to $105 Billion in 2021 — more than the total spending on music, books, sports teams, movies and video games combined. Lottery growth continues to outpace their growth over the last decade.

· For 2021, I estimate at least 44 million Americans played lottery regularly.

· In Sports betting, Americans wagered $58 billion in 2021.

· According to JPMorgan, in 2023, the daily notional value of 0DTE options traded on the US stock market hit $1 trillion.

What we spend money on including Music, Knowledge, Media & Entertainment, Sports, Commerce have all been disrupted by large tech players — except Gambling.

[What next] Making it happen and your help

How can you help?

• Know someone who can be engineering co-founder? customer? expert? Connect me.
• Want to brainstorm together? Lets grab some time. Calendly link: https://calendly.com/2304anands/45min
• Saw an article or a book on the topic that can improve my understanding? Share with me.
• Volunteer or freelance with me? Let’s talk.
• Interested to be updated on my progress? Message me your email id and I’ll add you to my mailing list.