Lately the state lottery has been popping up all over the place it didn't used to be. It feels like a sign of the times somehow. It makes for a bad feeling, like something old and rancid that begins growing colorful polyps and fuzz.
I know a few people who play. They occasionally win a few bucks, sometimes as much as $25, but I doubt its ever enough to make it worthwhile. "You can't win if you don't play" they all say. True enough, but it feels more to me like I'd have better odds being struck by a falling satellite. If I were to play, I'd probably be tempted to buy a lot of tickets to increase my odds, naturally, but it'd make very little difference, and end up being a much bigger waste.
Apparently enough people play it to generate this ungodly amount of money they're all trying to win. I am curious. Do you play, or have you ever?
Edited, Oct 13th 2011 2:27am by Kuwoobie
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Galkaman wrote:
Kuwoobie will die crushed under the burden of his mediocrity.
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
Just as Planned.
Eh, off and on. It was introduced in NC right as I turned 18 -- therefore I've kinda dabbled in it as long as I've had the chance. Now I really only do the scratch-off tickets.
Also, I hate the "You can't win if you don't play!" phrase. Ugh.
Also, I hate the "You can't win if you don't play!" phrase. Ugh.
I play on rare occasions when there's an exceptionally large jackpot.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
What Joph said.
I keep trying to start a karma system lottery, but so far no luck. I'd have everyone send me a dollar and then once a month I'd rate one of those people who sent a dollar up to guru on some sort of random number generated basis. The odds would actually be pretty good. Especially given the whole two, maybe 3 people who would actually play...
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We get a ticket most weeks. I'd just **** the money away on something else anyway, not like I'd save the couple bucks.
Donate. One day it could be your family.
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
If you consider you will be hit by lightening two or more times before you win the lottery then you know the chances of winning anything worthwhile.
The payout:odds ratio of most lotteries makes playing slots seem smart.
Timelordwho wrote:
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
This is not always true.
Quote:
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
Sometimes it's really fun to just feel wistful. When I lived in northern Texas before you could buy Powerball tickets over here, a large jackpot was a good excuse for a road trip to New Mexico :)
This is still a fun link, though
This is still a fun link, though
I buy a ticket once in a while when the total is exceptional. Usually with the change I have collecting in a cupholder that won't really get used for anything.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
I am presently $15 ahead when it comes to lotteries, and that's my little "fudge you" to their system.
Jophiel wrote:
I play on rare occasions when there's an exceptionally large jackpot.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
This.
I've played a few times, but I've never felt disappointed that I didn't lose, because I never expected to win in the first place. It's just nice for it to be an option. :P Not something I'd bother with every week (or even often), but when the jackpot is huge, I kinda look at it as a Pascalian wager.
If I don't buy a ticket, I'm $1 richer, but have no chance of winning.
If I do buy a ticket, I'm $1 poorer, but with the chance of being millions of dollars richer.
Having or losing $1 isn't really going to affect my level of happiness at all. And since I don't emotionally invest myself in the lottery, neither does losing. So it's really worth it when the jackpot is huge.
If I were to make it a frequent thing, however, it would be worse. $0-3 lost a year isn't painful. $54 lost a year is much harder to swallow. :P
IDrownFish wrote:
Anyways, you all are horrible, @#%^ed up people
lolgaxe wrote:
Never underestimate the healing power of a massive dong.
I have no urge to get stalked by long-lost relatives or random charities. So no, I don't play.
That monster in the mirror, he just might be you. -Grover
I regularly play the Mega Millions and the California lottery. I have a set of numbers I regularly play and then I choose a set of Quick Pick numbers.
My dad won a few thousand dollars when I was a kid when he got 5/6 numbers correct. That was fun, and those memories make me play now.
My dad won a few thousand dollars when I was a kid when he got 5/6 numbers correct. That was fun, and those memories make me play now.
I drop 5 bucks every Saturday on whichever lottery is largest at the time.
People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome. ~River Tam
Sedao
Sedao
LockeColeMA wrote:
Timelordwho wrote:
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
This is not always true.
Quote:
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
If this was true, you could spend infinite dollars and net proportionaly infinite net gains. Instead, this is a statistical trick, because it doesn't factor taxes, or the effects of increasing ticket buyers on splitting lower proportions of this payout.
I'd guess this part of their new ad campaign.
Just as Planned.
Timelordwho wrote:
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
This.
Jophiel wrote:
I play on rare occasions when there's an exceptionally large jackpot.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
And this.
It is a statistical certainty that the longer you play any lottery game, the more money you will lose. The only chance to win is to only play occasionally, and only when the jackpot is large enough that you wont feel the need to play ever again (well, unless you **** all your winnings away, which is statistically likely as well). Spending $5 for a tiny chance of winning tens of millions of dollars is worth doing. Spending $5 on a less than 50/50 chance of winning back your $5 is a stupidly moronic thing to do.
King Nobby wrote:
More words please
I won the Powerball jeckpot. Twice. But then I lost my tickets and photographic proof. You guys are just going to have to trust me on this one.
Timelordwho wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
Timelordwho wrote:
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
This is not always true.
Quote:
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
If this was true, you could spend infinite dollars and net proportionaly infinite net gains. Instead, this is a statistical trick, because it doesn't factor taxes, or the effects of increasing ticket buyers on splitting lower proportions of this payout.
I'd guess this part of their new ad campaign.
An ad campaign targeting people with infinite money.
Galkaman wrote:
Kuwoobie will die crushed under the burden of his mediocrity.
Jophiel wrote:
I don't expect to win, it's more like buying a buck's worth of daydreams about winning $200 million.
Uglysasquatch wrote:
We get a ticket most weeks. I'd just **** the money away on something else anyway, not like I'd save the couple bucks.
Paskil wrote:
I won the Powerball jeckpot. Twice. But then I lost my tickets and photographic proof. You guys are just going to have to trust me on this one.
Kuwoobie wrote:
Timelordwho wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
Timelordwho wrote:
It's a tax on people who don't understand math.
This is not always true.
Quote:
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
If this was true, you could spend infinite dollars and net proportionaly infinite net gains. Instead, this is a statistical trick, because it doesn't factor taxes, or the effects of increasing ticket buyers on splitting lower proportions of this payout.
I'd guess this part of their new ad campaign.
An ad campaign targeting people with infinite money.
No, an ad campaign targeting people who wouldn't ordinarily play the lottery, because they know or have heard of the math behind it and don't want to be a sucker.
If it really was a net gain cycle, many more people would buy tickets during that period. This has the side effect of making it no longer a sure bet because of prize diffusion, as well as raking in much more money for the lottery and associated governmental funding.
Just as Planned.
My father would occasionally play the lottery during the "it's big enough this weekend to buy a ticket" times. He never won more than fifty dollars, and he certainly spent more than that on them over the years. However, the lotto in GA at the time was used to fund college education, so basically my first day on campus reimbursed him all that money since I got a free ride my first year.
I would rather save up the lottery ticket money and blow it at Vegas in the summer. At least I'll get free drinks and a few hours worth of entertainment instead of low-grade disappointment throughout the year.
I would rather save up the lottery ticket money and blow it at Vegas in the summer. At least I'll get free drinks and a few hours worth of entertainment instead of low-grade disappointment throughout the year.
We will get scratch-off cards in our stockings at Christmas. That's about the extent of my lottery doings.
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