I grew up in North Carolina. I turned 18 right around the time the state established a lottery with profits going to education, so my friends and I would buy cheaper tickets for the novelty of it, but the novelty wore off quick and nobody I knew won more than maybe $10 or $20. I don't think I bought a ticket after 2007 or so, and probably only bought 4 or 5 total. When I lived in Charlotte, there were internet gambling places that operated via some loophole, and were sometimes robbed. They only operated for a short time before the state closed the loophole and shut them down.
Now I live in Alabama, which has a strange relationship with gambling. There is still no state lottery here, but plenty of nearby gambling and loophole gambling, and a lot of people are into it. Lots of people here play Georgia lotteries, there is Wind Creek Wetumpka (Poarch Band of Creek Indians casino resort), and we have a seedy dog racing track here in Birmingham that has betting on telecast horse and dog races, and live dog races. It was originally a horse track in the 1980s and 90s, but when that didn't pan out, they went to dogs. It's a strange place. I've never been inside, but have heard enough about it. Some of my relatives here used to go to the riverboat casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi along the Mississippi River. Not so much now, but it used to be a regular vacation thing for them. As much as people in this state love to gamble, the state still won't operate a lottery that might at least benefit schools or something. Instead they'd rather have loopholes for weird stuff like the dog track. Get drunk and bet on dogs? No problem. Buy a state lottery ticket with profits going to schools? NOPE, IMMORAL. Granted, I wouldn't participate in a state lottery beyond maybe a couple of tickets, but if the dog track is allowed, why not a lottery that might at least benefit the state in some way? One thing I remember about the NC state lottery too is that there was lots of access to help for gambling addiction. I bet the dog track doesn't offer resources for gambling addiction...just more beer and telecast dog races until you run out of money.
Though I don't gamble much myself, I'm not opposed to people doing it, I just hate when government takes a hypocritical stance on it or allows stupid loopholes when there's a better way to do it.