Introduction

Two out of three American adults report gambling, and 50% say they play lottery. For a couple of bucks, you buy the chance to change your life. This asymmetry is called skewness; it generates irrational hope. The only lotteries allowed in the US are the lotteries run by the states. But there's a chink in that monopolistic armor in Michigan. A small group of credit unions has taken advantage of a loophole in state law. They have set up a PLS program they call Save to Win. Here's its first big winner, 87-year-old Billy June Smith.