Some see a dark side to Powerball frenzy — the toll on poor players [View all]

[Liberal_in_LA]

Isaiah Gonzalez has played the lottery for more than two decades. He thinks he's won about $15 in that time.

"If I had started putting away a dollar here and there 20 years ago, I probably would have saved up $1,500 or more," said Gonzalez, 51.

The Long Beach resident often struggles to earn enough money painting houses to eat and pay rent. Still, the possibility of a jackpot compels him to play.

"What if I win?" he said. "I want the money because life is hard right now. And who wouldn't want an easier life?"

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Customer Roberto Lopez, 58, a parking attendant and father of two teenage boys, said he recently cut down on buying scratch-off tickets because he believed that he had become addicted.

"I was losing more money than what I was winning," he said. "Sometimes I felt a sense of guilt."

Still, he hoped to buy a Powerball ticket before Wednesday's draw, dreaming of a better life for his family if he won, Lopez said.

"If not, then it's back to fighting the good fight," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0113-powerball-people-20160113-story.html