The Lottery

[Valisk]

I think it's disgusting that the state runs a lottery, especially given how disproportionately it is played by the poor.

Playing on the desperate hopes of the poor is a fucked up thing for the government to be doing.

I'm not anti-gambling, i love playing craps in Vegas, but I think the government should not be running it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S 4G using Tapatalk

I can't for the life of me find the stats but when I was watching an episode of "The Lottery Changed My Life", one of the trivia facts they revealed is that the middle class spends roughly the same amount on the lottery as the lower/working class. Ofcourse if we are speaking percentages, the poor and working class spent a higher percentage of their annual salary on the lottery but in terms of who actually plays, it's nearly the same. Although this is from 1990, this journal of economics article supports that on page 9. http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/360/A...ookLottery.pdf and in this article http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc...lotteries.html (use the search function).

And it's voluntary so I have no sympathy if in fact the goverment does play on the hopes of the poor. It's like the location of liquor stores, check cashing/loan places, and gun shops on every corner in poor neighborhoods. It comes down to choices.

[Niiro]

My mother plays the lottery and ever since we learned basic statistics in middle(?) school I've always lovingly reminded her that she's never going to win. Of course if she ever did win I'd have no qualms eating my words hand over fist.

It's obviously ignorant to expect to win but it's equally ignorant to say you have no chance to win.

Overall I'd consider the lottery harmless, nobody's kids are going hungry over it, but the scratch off things are another story (nvm that the very concept of them being "games" is a direct insult to your intelligence).

[Brill Weave]

I play it when it gets really high. If my wife and I actually won I would put it in the bank and live off the interest for the rest of my life.


















Or build a money vault to swim in like Scrooge McDuck.

[ronin sparthos]

Better set aside some funds for the wheelchair you'll be in after diving into the money pit. :D

[Fhqwghads]

- It's a voluntary tax that helps out the system a bit, so I don't mind it
- I don't play, though I would if I would ever remember about it. I'd only get a single ticket though. I would do it with the mindset that I'm just giving a bit of extra money to the government. I sure as fuck would not expect to win.
- If I DID win, I would probably jizz buckets everywhere for the first 5 minutes until my balls shriveled up into tiny raisins and I'd need immediate fluids via IV after dehydrating myself to that point. After that...

I'd pay off this house, all my cards, the rest of my vehicle, then promptly quit my job and move to a warmer fucking state and buy a big house there with a swimming pool, etc. Buy a new car and a truck. A nice fat telescope including small enclosure for it (fuck moving big telescopes around.) Nice acoustic drums, nice Fender Les Paul, nice bass, a full stack for both the guitar and bass, nice electronic drums, a saxomophone, grand piano, top of the line computer and mics for recording and a shitload of virtual synths. Pool table. Another large room with 300+lb heavy bags and a small ring for working out and sparring. Bad-ass home theater room. Another room for gaming, with another top of the line gaming PC, some pinball machines, coin-ops of Gorf and Tempest. Nice big kitchen with gas range and sweet appliances, center island, breakfast bar. Massive master bedroom and master bath with a big whirlpool bathtub.

After that, I'd probably play with my new toys for a year or so. Then, I'd promptly become bored. I'd probably get addicted to cocaine or heroin, or both, lose everything, become a bum who lives in a box in an alley, and die alone and miserable after shitting myself from an OD.

[idklol]

Kinda weird coincidence that this thread is posted today. I bought a lottery ticket earlier today, the first i've bought in at least a year. Was just walking past the kiosk that sells them and figured why not, might as well get a lucky dip. I used to buy tickets once a week for a while but i just got bored of wasting money.

Things like poker are fine if you're really good at it, or blackjack, if you count cards, but otherwise pretty much all gambling is stupid as hell.

I like to gamble a little bit, i have my limits and have a bit of fun with it. Now i agree that any form of gambling that includes only chance are pretty dumb (roulette eg.) My brother is a semi big gambler as in he doesn't bet stupid amounts of money but bets often and wins all the time too. He gambles on soccer matches and horse racing mainly and always does his research first.

I ask him pretty much every day i come home and he's there, how much have you won today and 8/10 time he's won ~£50/$80.

[Judai]

QFT

Some more math: Saving $52 by no longer devoting $1/week to the lottery, one can basically get themselves a nice new video game every year. Or go to 52 movies at the dollar theater. Or get 5 pizzas. 8 cases of soda. 4 bottles of Smirnoff vodka. A tank of gas. Fuck theres so many things I could use $52 for. How about you stop playing the lottery, give me the money you'd have spent on it, and you're GUARANTEED of winning my appreciation.

Honestly, all those options make me WANT to play the lottery. I would gladly give up one video a game a year for a .000001% chance or w/e for myself and my family to be completely set for the rest of our lives. You would really rather have 5 pizzas then any chance at $100m+? Even if the chance is almost nothing. I don't play but $52 a year isn't a big deal.

[Elesirdur]

Last time I purchased lotto tickets was a few years ago where every week or two my office would buy them as a pool. I knew enough math and stats to know that I may as well have just used that $2 for a coffee, but it's kind of fun nonetheless.

While it does sadden me to hear that some people spend too much of their income 'chasing the dream', most provinces and states use lotto proceeds to fund much-needed social assistance and education programs. In most jurisdictions programs designed to help the mentally ill, homeless populations, and public education outside writing and math (art, music, etc) live and die by their yearly funding; much of which comes from lotto proceeds.

[Sepukku]

You would really rather have 5 pizzas then any chance at $100m+? Even if the chance is almost nothing.

You're giving it too much credit there. And yes 5 fucking pizzas sounds like 5 really really good days and perhaps if I don't share, 5 more good days after that. Which is 10 better days I'll have for $52 than you will with your 52 losing tickets. I suppose you could use them as toilet paper?

I don't play but $52 a year isn't a big deal.

Speak for yourself. I'm not Cream Soda but I don't own a dancing golden monkey. 52 is my teaching license for the year, since you didn't like my previous list of suggestions for using $52. 52 is 2 student-rush tickets to a Penguins game for me and my gal. Its like 6 Pirates tickets if I was feeling like punishing myself. 52 is a box of my medicine's co-pay. 52 is a fresh supply of contacts. 52 is a few oil changes.

[Soa]

I used to play a few scratchers a week and kept a running total of my winnings. I ended up about $250 up when I stopped playing them (mainly because the whole buying and cashing out process became tedious). Nowadays I'll buy a few tickets when the Powerball is really high but that's it.

I actually had a professor in college who won the max prize on a scratcher 3 times in one year, and that bastard didn't even need the money either because he was already retired and rich.

[bluefan]

I used to play a few scratchers a week and kept a running total of my winnings. I ended up about $250 up when I stopped playing them (mainly because the whole buying and cashing out process became tedious). Nowadays I'll buy a few tickets when the Powerball is really high but that's it.

I actually had a professor in college who won the max prize on a scratcher 3 times in one year, and that bastard didn't even need the money either because he was already retired and rich.

Those are usually the people who win it.

[Zalius]

lottery = bitch mode irl cheat code

[Francisco]

I probably play 5-10 times a year... like others have mentioned, when someone points out how staggering the jackpot has become.

If I won...

I'd do the blind trust thing. I wouldn't want the world knowing I had millions and millions of dollars.

I'd purchase the following...

- Townhouse in downtown Boston, aim for one large enough to do some interesting things with it, without being excessively big.
- Red Sox season tickets, field box.
- Some sort of kick ass tropical vacation home.
- New everything (clothes, furniture, electronics)

As well as...
- Quit my job.
- Go to school for something interesting.
- Pay off my parents' mortgage.
- Some sort of event on the BG forums. Not sure on details. Winner gets $80,000 and a gift card for Dominos pizza.
- Travel everywhere and anywhere.
- Pay off random debts for family and friends.
- Random anonymous gifts, for shits and giggles.
- RMT the FUCK out of Heavy Metal Plates and Riftshit.
- Scream "WE'RE ALL GONNA GET LAID" from a Limo, just for the fuck of it.

I'd also probably hire the following...

- Personal trainer.
- Housekeeper service.

Personal chef sounds nice, but impractical.

Then finally, I'd get bored and confess to BG I had won the lottery. The next day, I'm found dead - but can't be identified due to my teeth being removed, fingerprints being burned off and my remains being bleached and charred beyond anything forensic science could ever identify. The only clue, found next to my remains...

Spoiler: show

http://www.caribbeanrecipekits.com/i...nk%20330ml.png

[Francisco]

Also, I have a friend who things buying two lottery tickets doubles your chances of winning...

i.e. if the odds of winning with one ticket is 1 in 1,000,000, then buying two tickets means your odds are 2 in 1,000,000 - which is the same as 1 in 500,000...

I explained to him, to simplify it... "the odds would be 1 in 1,000,000 on the first ticket, and then once you determined it's a loser, the odds on the second ticket are 1 in 999,999 - since the first combination has been eliminated."

He then called me an idiot and said I don't understand math.

(This is the same friend who thinks the earth goes around the sun once a day, and doesn't spin on an axis.)

[Cail]

(This is the same friend who thinks the earth goes around the sun once a day, and doesn't spin on an axis.)

wtf lol

[hey]

Also, I have a friend who things buying two lottery tickets doubles your chances of winning...

i.e. if the odds of winning with one ticket is 1 in 1,000,000, then buying two tickets means your odds are 2 in 1,000,000 - which is the same as 1 in 500,000...

I explained to him, to simplify it... "the odds would be 1 in 1,000,000 on the first ticket, and then once you determined it's a loser, the odds on the second ticket are 1 in 999,999 - since the first combination has been eliminated."

He then called me an idiot and said I don't understand math.

(This is the same friend who thinks the earth goes around the sun once a day, and doesn't spin on an axis.)

And what, may i ask is 1/1000000+1/999999?

You're an idiot and don't understand math.

[Melena]

I used to play more when I had a lot more disposable income. Pretty much now only way I pay is if Mega Millions is worth over 200 Million, then I'll toss in 5 bucks. If I ever won, hello debt free, max IRA purchased every year, bump my deferred comp contributions to the bi weekly max, buy a house, and enjoy the fact I'll retire at 55 instead of 65 and enjoy the millions I get every year after taxes.

As for other gambling, if I ever go to Reno or Vegas I'll drop $100 on some 3 card poker or blackjack, and that lasts me 1-2 hrs. Then me and the wife will hit up the penny slots for a few hours while we get a buzz off of the free liquor.

[Blubbartron]

Technically both perspectives for that statistics question are valid. They're just looking at different things. The *overall* chance of winning the lottery is doubled, when buying two different combinations. You have twice as many chances to win. However, the odds do not "improve" by a noticeable amount simply because you have doubled your chances.

[Francisco]

And what, may i ask is 1/1000000+1/999999?

You're an idiot and don't understand math.

Same logic. I was explaining it as I explained it to him. Each ticket is only one shot of winning, but with each combination you eliminate, the field your betting against goes down by one.

Technically both perspectives for that statistics question are valid. They're just looking at different things. The *overall* chance of winning the lottery is doubled, when buying two different combinations. You have twice as many chances to win. However, the odds do not "improve" by a noticeable amount simply because you have doubled your chances.

I get what you're saying - but he was adamant that having two 1 in 1,000,000 shots was the same as having one 1 in 500,000 shot.

As for the earth's axis thing... yeah. He INSISTED he was right about that.... then when I showed him he was wrong, he dismissed it because the info I showed him was on the internet, where "anyone can just say whatever they want".

[hey]

Same logic. I was explaining it as I explained it to him. Each ticket is only one shot of winning, but with each combination you eliminate, the field your betting against goes down by one.

Yes, each ticket gives one shot of winning. So if you have two tickets, you have two shots at winning. 2 is twice as much as one btw.

but he was adamant that having two 1 in 1,000,000 shots was the same as having one 1 in 500,000 shot.

499,999.5 rounds to 500k.