I think your EDIT is much clearer, and more accurate than your original formulation.

In response to the (IMHO unnecessarily snarky, but perhaps I'm reading in too much) explanation for the edit:

It is possible simultaneously to (a) think that "some [lottery players] may be making much more rational decisions than we think"; (b) think that it's still irrational for them to play the lottery; and (c) not define "rational" as "the unattainable goal of perfect utility maximization."

This just means that you think playing the lottery is really silly.