My old man is in a syndicate of 25 in the local sports club.I asked the staff I know very well at the Tesco fag/Lotto check-out if they could recall a meaningful winning event in the 7 years they have been there. None could.
They cough up R150 a quarter each (about 6 beers), and every week take x amounts of lines on the local lotto.
Over time, they break even, and on one occasion got a 'biggie' and everyone got R26K out of it.
Nice.
But, as he says, it is a bit of fun and they can afford it.
Not the 'courage born of desperation' gambling.