In Good Societies and Good Lives I argued against the morality of state-run lotteries. Now let's consider the morality of accepting a payout. Suppose you win big, in the millions. Chances are excellent that this will ruin you for the rest of your life, but that is not my present point. Suppose you can handle the windfall, the onslaught of long-lost cousins, the openly-displayed envious hatred of your 'friends,' the army of 'financial planners' and tax advisors who will beat a path to your door, etc. Aren't the winnings ill-gotten gains?
Let us consider where those millions that you are about to receive came from. They were taken mainly from 'innumerate' people who cannot afford to gamble away their money, people who were influenced by false advertising. ('Innumeracy' is the mathematical analog of illiteracy.) According to this source, Duke University professors Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook note six common tactics commonly used in lottery advertising:
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Overemphasize the chance of winning. In 70% of TV ads studied, those pictured playing the lottery won.
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Design games so as to disguise the true odds, as well as to give the impression of a greater possibility of winning.
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Ridicule doubters.
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Encourage the false notion that there is an element of skill in playing the lottery.
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Encourage players to minimize regret. Remind them of how bad they would feel if they missed playing the lottery on the day when their numbers “hit.”
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Provide misleading information about the true odds, or don’t provide any information at all.
Of course, people who play lotteries play of their own free will. So lottery winnings are not ill-gotten gains in the way they would be if the money had been stolen. But the winner takes money from people who have been duped and exploited, and most of these people are precisely ones who can least afford to be separated from their money.
So what we have here is the extraction of money from 'innumerate' rubes and its transfer via a chance mechanism to people who have done nothing to deserve it. The player is cheated, and the winner gets something for nothing.
Now is this something you want your government doing in your name?