Conventionally lottery gambling is considered an addiction that has harmful properties. Yet it is important to look at it closely and research it from a psychological point of view. The focus is made important especially when lottery is re-legalized after many years it was banned, like in the Great Britain. According to Galston (1995), in Great Britain the administration itself has declared the lottery not to be a game of gambling, because its profit is invested in charitable purposes. However we argue that any attempt to use money, without knowing weather the outcome of the investment will result in winning a larger sum of money, is at heart gambling. Free online lottery as a game of luck and probabilities falls therefore under the roof of gambling. In Europe, because lotteries are always connected with charitable purposes they have become now days deeply rooted in the culture. Griffiths (1195a) has claimed that the publics attitude to the lottery as a gambling medium is less harsh because of this affiliation to good doing. He also claims that as a result, the socially bad branding of gambling behavior, such as race bets or casino playing, is diminished. However, this hypothesis must be first proven in a practical experiment. More over Griffiths (1995b; c; 1996) argues that it is a slippery slop that allows us to accept other socially stigmatized addictions such as drinking and smoking. Taking the reintroduction of National Lottery in Great Britain as an example, it is noted that not the lottery itself is worrisome but rather the governmental laws that followed. In 1968, the Gambling Act states that any gambling activity should not be encouraged in any way. However, this notion was of course violated since the lottery was re-legalized. Groups like lawyers (Miers, 1995) or Kent-Lemon gaming advisers or the gaming Board (1995) and the UK Home Office (Johnston, 1995) have all announced this as a violation to the policy. Since the European legislation has eased its hand, gambling has transformed to a conventional commercialized product. The publicity it received allowed it to become more lightly consumed. That in turn will pose a problem as more people will be prone to become a Gambler on all its implicating problems. The increase in places, where one can play the free online lottery and the legal allowance of these institutions can amplify the gambling phenomenon though maybe not in such magnitude. Identifying the lottery player According to Douglas (1995) it is vital to recognize the different conditions as well as the behavioral design, in order to establish distinguished commercial targets. For example players are divided into main groups according to a three dimensional scale (Lammers, 1984; cf. Douglas, 1995): 1.Instigated and individual activity, meaning is the player behavior is mainly based on talent or luck. 2.Risk taking scale, meaning the subjective estimation of the player of the winning odds against his will to win. 3.Playing ferocity, meaning the amount of time and money invested by the player. In this case the players can be sub categorized as 'Common player', 'Casual Player', 'Compulsive Player' and so on. These groups have not yet withstood the proof of any kind of experiment and further research is required. Lottery Player Classifications: In the US the players are divided into 4 groups (Clotfelter & Cook, 1989): Investor, plunger, believer and participant, according to their Values and Life Styles also referred to as VAL's typology. 1.Investor: This player chooses his game cautiously while examining the probabilities for a win in each game. 2.Plunger: It is the player habit to bet all his money in hope for winning the jackpot that will save him from being the penniless he has become. 3.Believer: Has the most confidence that his method of playing helps him choose the higher probable winning numbers. 4.Participant: The player has less regard for the winnings and takes his joy from the participation process. According to this classification it is evident that the 'Plunger Player' is the player prone to addiction problems and therefore facing social difficulties. However, up to date no empirical research was conducted to support the validity of the classification. In addition, it might be immorally incorrect to assist in identifying the plungers, as it may allow the specific publicity targeting them.
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