Except this is Keysight providing the prize, and Dave is picking a winner and distributing it. It's not like he bought the scope himself.
I am aware and that's a valid point, yet it is still Dave's influence that makes this giveaway possible, in addition I'm not too sure Keysight would be enthusiastic about their products being given away just to be resold.
Would an answer of "I need a scope to learn/work on but can't afford it. If I win this I'll sell it for 10k, buy a Rigol DS1054Z, and have enough cash left over to pay rent and buy food for the next few months" be acceptable?
Not really. If you have issues keeping the lights on and putting food on the table then you have much bigger problems in life and most likely cannot afford to put a device like this to regular use. If you could (afford the cost of parts and boards and other supplies) then you're not really having trouble buying food, and if you ARE having trouble buying food yet can still buy the supplies to put a device like this to use, then you probably aren't a responsible enough individual to warrant being given such a sensitive piece of test equipment. ("You" being a purely hypothetical general identifier)
Many of us are about two paydays away from "living in a cardboard box on the side of the road".
Sometimes "the supplies to put a device like this to use" were obtained during a period of relative affluence,when employment appeared to be secure,the car didn't need fixing,& nobody in the family was sick.
Things can change overnight!
Even when permanently employed,back in the days when such jobs existed,I encountered just such a situation.
Going from shift work to ordinary Mon-Fri work,coinciding with the car needing repair,then a bout of sickness, had me selling off a (then) current model 2m Ham Radio,& a Kodak Carousel slide projector.
If I had possessed anything more valuable which wasn't essential to my job,that would have gone,too.
All my current "Lab" is made up of old stuff, or very cheap new stuff,as is my "Ham Shack".
If I won it & kept it,the instrument would get next to no use.
If I won it,& sold it,I would have enough money for repairs to my house,which,as a Retired person, I would have difficulties affording otherwise.