Most Americans count buying a lottery ticket as gambling
Core finding
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.
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."
n = 1,000 · Mar 6–16, 2026 · MoE ±3.4%
Methodology
Full methodology →| Mode | Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting |
|---|---|
| Population | US adults age 18+ |
| Field dates | Mar 6–16, 2026 |
| Base (unweighted) | 1,000 |
| Margin of error | ±3.4% |
| Module | Module 1: Technology, Finance, & Media |
| Sponsor | Verasight |
| Weight variable | weight |
| Weighting targets | age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status |
Sources
- reports.verasight.io/r/omnibus-2026-044
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."
Cite this question
Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044, fielded March 6-16, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.4%.