I remain adamantly opposed to games of chance, even those that offer up prizes totaling $1.6 billion, which the Mega Millions lottery is offering at this moment.

In the early 1990s, when Texas was discussing whether to allow a lottery, I wrote editorials from my post at the Beaumont Enterprise opposing it. The state voted — I think it was in 1991 — to approve the lottery in a statewide election; the approval was overwhelming. So much for the “power of the press.”

I have played the Texas Lottery exactly twice. The first time, I purchased a $1 ticket at a Beaumont convenience store and won $3.

Woo hoo! I was $2 to the good.

I played again the next week. I plunked down another buck. I came up empty. That’s when I quit. I was still $1 on the plus side.

The lottery, the Mega Millions, the Power Ball games have no appeal to me. Honest! They don’t.

I know a few friends who’ve squandered a lot of their life savings trying to win “the big one.” Yes, I know a few who’ve done well. The most astonishing story involves a young man with whom I worked at the Amarillo Globe-News. He went to Lubbock one day, purchased a ticket — and walked away with a million bucks.

I was told by another friend that this fellow hardly ever plays the game. He just thought he’d lay down a few bucks. And then? Boom!

That kind of dumb luck is foreign to me.

Thus, I won’t get sucked into this game. Not even for a smooth billion-six.

Good luck to whoever wins. You’ll need it. Bigly.