Players have more fun.

Unless you are a student, that is.

Although the Illinois Lottery makes people millionaires, many students at NIU choose not to participate in playing the lotto.

Julie Lundeen, owner of Lundeen’s Discount Liquor, 1030 Arcadia Drive, said she believes lottery playing is a bad habit.

“I don’t see that many students buying tickets,” Lundeen said. “The odds are against them that they are going to ever come out ahead in the long run.”

Lundeen said people who consistently buy lottery tickets are older people.

Although the odds of winning the lotto are slim, Lundeen’s store has sold winning tickets.

“We have occasional winners,” Lundeen said. “We have had a $5,000 winner, but that is pretty rare.” Lundeen’s sells about 25 lottery tickets a day; however, its sales greatly depend on how much the lotto jackpot is.

When students do play the lottery, the reasons differ from everyone else, said sociology professor Jack King.

“I think they don’t play probably because of the money factor,” King said. “Students stress a dollar for weeks at a time. They want to spend their money knowing they are going to get something in return, which isn’t always the case with the lottery.”

Being traditionally financially strapped stops a lot of students from purchasing lotto tickets, said Madonna Nash, a senior nutrition and dietetics major who also works at Amoco Super Pantry in DeKalb.

“I don’t think the lotto is as interesting to students as it is to older people,” Nash said. “Students have better things to spend their money on.”

But that’s not always the case. Freshman OMIS major Moin Khan said he plays the lotto.

“I want to get rich to start my own business,” Khan said. “Everyone has the right to get rich.”