Report · AI & Tech

Most Americans count buying a lottery ticket as gambling

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The classic games of chance top the list of what Americans consider gambling: buying a lottery ticket like Powerball or MegaMillions (72%) and buying scratch tickets (71%) rank first and second among nine activities, a March 2026 Verasight survey finds.

Majorities also see playing daily fantasy sports for a prize pool (65%), trading on prediction markets like Kalshi or Polymarket (63%), playing season-long fantasy sports (60%), and filling out March Madness brackets for a cash prize (53%) the same way. Investment activities sit far lower: 32% consider trading cryptocurrency a form of gambling, 25% trading stocks, and 15% investing in a 401k, while 11% say none of these activities qualifies.

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Selected responses

Most Americans count buying a lottery ticket as gambling.

Which of the following activities, if any, would you consider to be a form of "gambling?" For the purposes of this question, "gambling" means "the activity of playing games of chance for money, or placing wagers on the outcome of future events."

  • Buying a lottery ticket (e.g., Powerball, MegaMillions) 72.0%
  • Buying a scratch tickets 70.8%
  • Playing Daily Fantasy Sports with a prize pool (games where users set lineups of professional athletes that accure points for one game or slate of games). 65.5%
  • Trading on Prediction markets like Kalshi, Predictit, Polymarket (betting on future events like political elections). 62.8%
  • Playing Season-Long Fantasy Sports with a prize pool (games where users set lineups of professional athletes that accrue points for an entire season). 60.4%
  • Filling out "March Madness" Brackets for a cash prize 53.0%
  • Trading cryptocurrency. 31.7%
  • Trading stocks. 24.8%
  • Investing in a 401k (stock market based retirement account). 14.9%
  • None of the above 11.2%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.4%

Module 1: Technology, Finance, & Media

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-03-06 → 2026-03-16
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.4%
Module
Module 1: Technology, Finance, & Media

Source

Citation

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044, fielded March 6-16, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.4%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/omnibus-2026-044#q-1-13

Verasight survey methodology

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This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
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