My tongue-in-cheek scheme: Operate a &quot;lottery disappointment insurance&quot; company. For (say) $1.50 you register your numbers with us, and we promise to pay out what you would have won had you bought a $2 ticket on the real lottery. Any large insurance company could easily afford the payout, and there should be sufficient spread between the official ticket price and the expected win to make it profitable.<p>Only downside is that if by some fluke it is not already illegal, it would be made illegal in a flash.