As inflation continues to impact nearly every aspect of life, even lottery tickets are seeing a price hike. Starting in April 2025, the price of a Mega Millions ticket will jump from $2 to $5, more than doubling in cost. This marks the second price increase in the game’s 22-year history, with lottery officials promising bigger jackpots and better odds. While some might be excited about the potential for higher payouts, the price hike also reflects a deeper issue tied to the role lotteries play in American life, particularly for lower-income people.

Mega Millions and other national lottery games are often sold as a fun chance to dream big. The headlines tell us about billion-dollar jackpots, record-breaking prizes, and life-changing wins. Many of us fantasize about what we’d do with that money—pay off debt, quit our job, buy that boat, or finally get that comic book in mint condition. For a brief moment, we allow ourselves to believe that winning is possible. This dream, though fleeting, plays a significant role in why so many people keep buying tickets, despite the near-impossible odds of winning. It’s a part of the American dream—the belief that anyone, regardless of their circumstances, can strike it rich if luck is on their side.

This belief is also why some people oppose policies like estate taxes or higher taxes on the wealthy, even though they’ll likely never benefit from such policies themselves. The hope of one day becoming rich keeps people invested in systems that often work against their own interests, just as it drives millions to participate in lotteries where the odds are stacked against them. Get-rich-quick schemes like NFTs and multilevel marketing attract the same type of thinking—people want to believe they can strike gold.

But while Mega Millions and other lotteries sell the dream of financial freedom, the reality is far different. Lotteries are often described as a “poor tax” because they disproportionately affect lower-income individuals, who are more likely to spend a significant portion of their income on tickets. Wealthier people rarely play the lottery in large numbers—why would they? Instead, it’s those who can least afford it who spend their money on tickets, effectively funding state programs like schools, roads, and public safety that should be supported by more equitable taxation.

Proponents of the lottery point to the good it does, like funding education and infrastructure, but that argument only highlights the issue. Rather than collecting taxes in a way that affects both the rich and poor fairly, the lottery allows states to gather revenue primarily from lower-income citizens, who are often lured by the hope of hitting a big jackpot. If the government proposed a tax that only targeted the poor, people would be outraged. But by disguising this system as a “game,” the lottery avoids such scrutiny.

And calling it a game is misleading. There’s no skill involved, and luck is purely coincidental. Unlike games in casinos that offer some entertainment value, the lottery is a mindless and addictive state-run machine that can ruin a person’s finances. It draws people in with the promise of massive payouts, but the reality is that it’s a system designed to take more than it gives. The lottery flips the usual approach to taxation—where states tax harmful behaviors to discourage them—and instead encourages people to spend money on something that rarely benefits them.

As inflation drives up prices across the board, it’s no surprise that even the lottery is becoming more expensive. But for many people, especially those with lower incomes, that $5 ticket represents more than just a chance at winning—it’s a small investment in the hope of a better life. Unfortunately, the odds of that ticket paying off are slim, and the price hike might make it even harder for people to justify playing.

In the end, the lottery plays on a dream that keeps many Americans coming back, despite the overwhelming odds against them. As states continue to rely on lottery revenue, the burden will fall on those who can least afford it, while the wealthy largely remain unaffected. This latest price hike might promise bigger jackpots, but for many, it’s just another example of how inflation is making life more difficult—even in the world of dreams.