What 100K dreamers really talk about: Inside Reddit's lottery forums

Ever wonder what happens when 100,000 lottery dreamers gather in one place? They create two of Reddit's most entertaining communities. r/lottery boasts 41,000 members. r/ifiwonthelottery claims 59,000. Together, they form a digital hangout where hope meets reality, dreams collide with math, and everyone's got a theory.

What drives people to spend hours discussing something with odds worse than getting struck by lightning? The answer might surprise you.

The scratcher shrine of r/lottery

Created in 2009, r/lottery calls itself "a community forum for Redditors who like to play the Lottery Scratch Offs and Pull Tabs." But it's become much more. It's part support group, part victory lap, part conspiracy theory hub.

The forum's favorite rule says it all: "Be Awesome To Each Other." In a world where lottery players often face judgment, this community offers something rare. Acceptance.

What dominates the feed? Scratcher winners. Lots of them. Players post photos of their winning tickets like trophies. The wins range from modest to mind-blowing.

Take whitefox72's recent post. They shared a $12 Powerball winner with the caption: "I don't mean to brag but..." Their spending plan? "Now where should I spend my riches? I'm thinking mozzarella sticks."

This captures the forum's spirit perfectly. Self-deprecating humor mixed with genuine excitement. Even small wins matter here.

When billion-dollar dreams crash

The recent Powerball surge past $1 billion sent the community into overdrive. Members speculated endlessly about the jackpot. Would it hit $2 billion? Who would win? What would they buy first?

Then reality hit: someone won. The forum's response? A meme that read: "You Lost, Go Back To Work."

Member ihatelifetoo summed up the collective mood: "I knew I wasn't gonna win but it still stung."

But disappointment breeds curiosity. Some members started questioning the win itself. Saquonbrady raised eyebrows with this observation:

"Is it not suspicious that both the winning tickets were self pick and in anonymous states? What are the odds that two win the same jackpot, both in self pick? And then the fact that the states were both anonymous states… and the video of the drawing was released like an hour later than usual… Maybe I'm just a loon."

Conspiracy theories aside, the forum shows how lottery fever affects real people. Hope builds. Reality crashes down. The cycle repeats.

Lucky numbers versus cold logic

Beyond celebrating wins and mourning losses, r/lottery tackles the big questions. Do lucky numbers work? Should you stick with birthdays? Is quick-pick better?

The user named MiraFoot posed this dilemma:

"Do you stick to your 'lucky numbers' or always go random? I've got friends who swear by their birthday combos and never change them, even if they've lost for years. I usually just let the machine quick-pick for me, feels less stressful. Curious if anyone here actually had success with their 'lucky' set, or is it all just superstition?"

The responses reveal beliefs about probability and luck. Loudite shared supposed research from Italian students:

"They researched the historical winning numbers and determined that there is [a] greater probability of picking repeated winning numbers. So, based on historical evidence (instead of theoretical probability), history would show that there is favoritism to specific winning numbers."

True or not, these discussions show how players rationalize their choices. Everyone wants an edge, even when logic says no edge exists.

Dreams and donations on r/ifiwonthelottery

While r/lottery focuses on playing and winning, r/ifiwonthelottery explores what comes after. Created in 2012, this community asks one simple question: "What would you do if you won the lottery?"

The answers reveal everything about human nature.

Some dream big. Others think practically. Many consider their impact on the world.

Letters_to_Dionysus asked: "once you've already done all the fun stuff what causes do you fund? how do you try to make the world a better place?"

ThrowawayLDS_7gen offered a surprisingly humble response: "I leave my job so someone who needs it can have it."

This captures something beautiful about lottery dreams. Yes, people want mansions and yachts. But many also want to help others. The fantasy includes generosity.

Strategy meets reality

Even in dream-focused r/ifiwonthelottery, strategy creeps in. yawara25 proposed an interesting theory:

"So theoretically, if you buy a ticket every draw, even when the jackpot is at $20 million, wouldn't it be strategically better to wait until it's high (say $600 million or something) and then buy as many lines as drawings have passed since your last purchase?"

Postmanpat84 brought them back to earth:

"Lottery is designed for you to lose thousands over a lifetime of playing in the hopes of winning the top prize in a draw. You would probably be over the moon playing a low prize draw and winning like 100k. I would be over the moon winning a prize that made me break even over my lottery buying."

This exchange highlights the eternal tension between hope and math. Players know the odds. They play anyway. Sometimes they even laugh about it.

The real jackpot

What do 100,000 lottery dreamers really talk about? Everything except the lottery itself.

They discuss mozzarella sticks and world peace. They share conspiracy theories and acts of kindness. They celebrate $12 wins like million-dollar jackpots. They plan charitable foundations and job resignations.

These communities offer something more valuable than winning numbers or strategy guides. They provide a connection. In a world that often dismisses lottery players as foolish dreamers, these forums say: "Your dreams matter. Your small wins count. Your theories deserve discussion."

Maybe that's the real jackpot. Not the money, but the community. Not the winning, but the dreaming together.

The odds of winning the lottery remain astronomical. The odds of finding your tribe? Apparently, much better than you'd think.