In my humble opinion, more people can win in the pyramid than in the lottery. The whole experience of the pyramids proves this. I can agree, (what else can I do?) That they will lose about 80%, but still it is less than in lotteries. Plus, in the rules it is clearly written that the game Ponzi is a pyramid. All is honest and there is no deceit.
That doesn't answer the question. The chance of winning this week's Powerball is roughly 1 in 292 million. I can make a decision to buy or not to buy the lottery ticket based on that. Ponzi participants have no such information and can't make an informed decision. Ponzi is not a lottery.