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<p>Is this a true stat or something tweaked to raise eyebrows?</p>
<p>At any rate, it’s an opportunity for a forward thinking politician to propose that a fraction of the takings should go to funding “lottery stamps”.</p>
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dadx, this is if you played every lottery over a period of time and averaged the total cost and payoffs. But for a specific drawing, if you had amounts accumulated from prior drawings that nobody won, the total prize is larger than the cost to buy every combination, but you have to contend with possibly splitting the prize.</p>
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My wording was bad - he “lost” several hundred grand. He used to play in an office pool all the time and won the odd buck or two. After he stopped, they won a few million and his share would have been a few hundred K.</p>
<p>Ok…</p>
<p>I agree with the idea that being left out can be a greater motivator than the cost of playing and losing.</p>
<p>never played the lottery because silly as it might sound, I really wouldn’t want to win and have my life changed. I like working hard for my money and it sets a good example for my children. I wouldn’t want to get lazy and content and have spoiled kids.</p>
<p>On a side note, it always amuses me how when the lotto pot gets large, more and more people wait in line for their tickets. So, for $100m you would buy a ticket, but not for a mere $20m?</p>
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<p>And I never thought so many of otherwise sensible people of CC would so willingly, even eagerly, allow themselves to be scammed out of their money.</p>
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<p>Yeah, and they each had about a 1 in 10 chance of winning those admissions “lotteries.” Not great odds, but clearly doable. The chances of any one person winning this super lotto nonsense were about 17.6 million-fold worse. A total scam.</p>
<p>Coureur…we weren’t scammed.</p>
<p>We had fun. It’s over. </p>
<p>We are moving on…</p>
<p>On to new things…</p>
<p>But you are still sour.</p>
<p>^^Sour? What do I have to be sour about? My money is still in my wallet, and I’m happy about that. What would make me sour would be if I had allowed myself to be tricked out it. If losing your money that way somehow makes you feel good, great. Go for it. It’s your money.</p>
<p>I got tricked out of money for prime New York steak tonight. It was very good, but more calories and fat than the lottery ticket, and the excitement didn’t last as long. The fat probably will.</p>
<p>My brother used to sell lottery tickets at his store. The vast majority of buyers were poor people who would come in day after day and immediately plow any instant winnings right back into tickets. They would spend an inordinate amount of time deciding what numbers to play or painstakingly selecting from a dozen instant games with identical odds. Lotteries are nothing but a tax on the ignorant and/or foolish poor–might as well just knock them over the head and steal their wallets. A shameful endeavor for state governments.</p>
<p>I buy lottery tickets when jackpots get high , but not in multiples. What the heck, it’s a dollar. I’b be willing to bet that people spend more than that on a cup of coffee to go. I don’t have any desire to buy yachts , or other extravagant items, but would love to have no debt whatsoever and be able to help my family members. Other than that, I would feel an obligation to give the bulk of it away</p>
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There are many aspects of choices that society needs to make that requires a balance between the freedom of citizens do so something versus the harm it causes among some. Like most things, there’s no black/white answer - we deem crack to be bad enough that it’s OK to curtail this privilege, but alcohol for adults is not, and there are a million things in-between like fatty foods and junk TV programs. </p>
<p>For me, voluntary taxes are a whole lot better than forced ones, and for the people I know who play the lottery, the money dished out is inconsequential, but I’m sure there are those who make foolish decisions - price paid by a society that gives options.</p>
<p>Okay, Coureur–you’ve convinced me. All these poor CC folk who admitted to,for once, buying a ticket or two have doomed themselves to a lifetime of scam and sorrow. As we speak, they are busy offering their passwords and SS numbers to fake “email upgrade” notifications, wiring money to some guy from Nigeria, and putting down a downpayment on the Brooklyn Bridge.</p>
<p>And, OMG, it’s April Fools!!! Who knows what unthinkable schemes we may all fall victim to today in our gullible, unable to critically think stupors today!!! :)</p>
<p>This lottery doesn’t seem to be bringing out the best in some people - </p>
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<p>[Mega</a> Millions Mystery: Maryland Woman Claims To Have $105M Ticket, But No One’s Come Forward | Fox News](<a href=“Mega Millions Mystery: Maryland woman claims to have $105M ticket, but no one's come forward | Fox News”>Mega Millions Mystery: Maryland woman claims to have $105M ticket, but no one's come forward | Fox News)</p>
<p>She sounds like a nut so maybe she didn’t really win since how can you not know whether you have the numbers or not, but if she did she’s likely to have some pretty angry co-workers. I wonder how other office pools handle the idea of the ‘pool numbers’ vs the ‘individual numbers’ unless they publish the numbers to all members before the drawing which I think is the only way to handle that.</p>
<p>And true to form, it’s a single mother with 7 kids working at McDonalds, who presumably doesn’t have a lot of extra dollars, who decided to spend her money on lottery tickets. OTOH maybe it worked out for her (if her co-workers don’t attack her).</p>
<p>Wasn’t there a recent court case where someone made a similar claim about a “separate” purchase but was the verdict said he had to share the winnings? Edited to add, here it is:</p>
<p><a href=“http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/03/jury-lottery-winner-must-share-cash-with-co-workers/1#.T3oFIdmV2So[/url]”>Jury: Lottery winner cheated co-workers;
<p>A single mother with 7 kids working at McDonalds shouldn’t be spending a single dollar on a lottery ticker, ever. But she’s precisely the person who makes lotteries a boon to states, because she thinks this is the only chance she’ll ever have to improve her financial situation. It’s shameful for states to take advantage of this misguided thinking.</p>
<p>It’s her only shot…she should buy a ticket once in awhile…</p>
<p>1 out of 170 million is better than zero.</p>
<p>^^ I disagree - it’s virtually zero. She’d be better off doing something else with those dollars - and I’ll bet it’s more than ‘a ticket once in a while’. People making a choice between the basics for their kids or an almost non-existent shot at winning the lotto should choose the former.</p>
<p>“Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert explains in the first half of the book.</p>
<p>It is not just the money…It is important psychologically.</p>
<p>Try typing “1/170,000,000” in a calculator to see what it looks like. I’m one of those pesky engineers who has to deal with numbers every day.</p>
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A lot of things are important - like taking care of the family before throwing away money on something with an almost zero chance of a return - and perhaps planning ahead just a bit to not end up as a single mother with 7 kids working at McDonalds.</p>
<p>You’re right–anyone who finds herself in that position lacks the executive planning skills to make a sensible decision about gambling. All the more reason for the state not to take advantage of her.</p>