How many play the lottery?

[steveneddy]

Do you play your state's or another state's lottery?

[Dr Small]

No I don't. That is like searching for a needle in a haystack. It wastes alot of time, and you most likely will never find it. In this case, it wastes alot of money, and you most likely will never win it.

[steveneddy]

I do occationally, but only $2 at a time.

Maybe once or twice a month.

[lisati]

With the "choose 6 out of 40 numbers" style lotteries having a 1 in 3,838,380 chance of choosing the winning numbers by accident, I don't like the odds too much.

[John164918a]

You shouldn't go into things like lotteries without doing some calculations. I know that in the UK the chances of winning the jackpot are one in 13.8 million and the chances of winning £9 (you already paid for the ticket) are 1 in 58. Theres a good student night in a pub where I live every week where I can get a pint for my £1 instead.

[freebeer]

I only play it when the jackpot exceeds $14 million. ie the EMV (Expected monetary value) > 1.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 13.8 million to one. If the EMV is greater, the risk/reward ratio is favorable.

"The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math."

[LaRoza]

"The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math."

I was going to say that :(

[bp1509]

d

[ice60]

i play it once a month or so, i checked a 4 month old ticket a few days a go and i won £45 :D i got 4 numbers.

(my maths is good, i went to the one of the best schools in england and i come from a very rich family.) :P

[LaRoza]

i play it once a month or so, i checked a 4 month old ticket a few days a go and i won £45 :D i got 4 numbers.

(my maths is good, i went to the one of the best schools in england and i come from a very rich family.) :P

Do you have a profit?

£45, but did you spend more total?

[ice60]

Do you have a profit?

£45, but did you spend more total?

i doubt i've made a profit, not many people have, but i certainly understand the odds. i just wrote what i did to make me feel better lol.

[chucky chuckaluck]

i used to play it a lot. i even tried to use a ouija board to try to get numbers (it just kept saying "kill"). most i ever won was $100.

[gjoellee]

Doh...voted "Yes", it was supposed to be "No".

I find lotteries a waste of time!

[Kvark]

You shouldn't go into things like lotteries without doing some calculations. I know that in the UK the chances of winning the jackpot are one in 13.8 million and the chances of winning £9 (you already paid for the ticket) are 1 in 58. Theres a good student night in a pub where I live every week where I can get a pint for my £1 instead.
I read the law instead. In Sweden it is required by law that lotteries have an EMV between 1/3 and 1/2 since less than 1/3 is a ripoff while more than 1/2 (which isn't a ripoff?) would be a better deal than the government owned lotteries. Jackpots can temporarily raise the EMV by withholding winnings for later rounds and the law lists several situations where a lottery can be granted an exception to the rule. Even with those variations there is such a big margin between the upper limit and breaking even I don't even have to check the numbers to know every lottery is a guaranteed scam.

[gn2]

Since the UK's National Lottery started I haven't bought a single ticket.

I like my dreams to be like my software, free.

[god0fgod]

Why play something with the odds against you?

[Corfy]

Occasionally I'll buy one state lottery ticket and one Powerball ticket. But that is rare. I haven't purchased any tickets in months, and so far, the only thing I have ever won was a free ticket.

[steveneddy]

i used to play it a lot. i even tried to use a ouija board to try to get numbers (it just kept saying "kill"). most i ever won was $100.

rotf lmao


it just kept saying "kill"

[geogur]

i play it once a month or so, i checked a 4 month old ticket a few days a go and i won £45 :D i got 4 numbers.

(my maths is good, i went to the one of the best schools in england and i come from a very rich family.) :P

so what dose that mean ?

[steveneddy]

A British college student just won the lottery over there.

[smoker]

now and again i buy a lucky dip lottery on a whim, and then don't check the numbers for maybe weeks after (the lengthy contemplation that there may be a fortune in the cupboard drawer is better than the momentary disappointment when the numbers are drawn and the ticket instantly binned!)

[ODF]

Lotery is more a game and a pleasure to me than a desperate dream. We don't need it to buy a 2000$ coffee machine but all the jokes we do about IF I win I'll do that or this is worth it.

Same thing about casino ... when I go there I'm there to spend money for having fun =) That's the way to go.

[JDorfler]

It's amazing that something that was started by the mob back in the day is now a way for a state to raise money "for education".

I gambled one time in Macau with someone else's money. I won them about a hundred US dollars off of 5 bucks, and that was the end of that. I did get all the diet Cokes I wanted for free however.

My grandmother, back in the 80s, would play the Florida Lottery scratch offs. She had a "system", but to this day I couldn't tell you what it was. She would always make money. I've never seen her lose money. Strange, I know.

[tubasoldier]

I bought one lottery ticket on my 18th birthday.
I scratched it and lost my dollar. Well, I didn't really lose my dollar. I knew where it was but it no longer belonged to me. And on top of that I had a worthless piece of paper.

That was the only time I dabbled in the lottery. I've never had a desire to touch it since.

[afeasfaerw23231233]

i never play lottery but i remembered one time my relative forced me to buy one as there was something called "festival special bonus Mark Six"(get six out of 49 numbers). the first prize was 40m HKD (5 million USD). i picked 1,2,3,4,5,6 and he said no one would choose this stupid combination unless he's a fool. i told him each combination of 49_C_6 has an equal opportunity of to win but he didn't believe it. wasting my 5 bucks (around 0.65 USD)



My grandmother, back in the 80s, would play the Florida Lottery scratch offs. She had a "system", but to this day I couldn't tell you what it was. She would always make money. I've never seen her lose money. Strange, I know.
wow! how was that?

[zipperback]

Do you play your state's or another state's lottery?


In the State of Oregon, where I live, 100% of profits from the proceeds of all lottery sales are distributed back to the public in the following manner:

64% Funding of Public education programs.
20% Economic development.
1% Treatment services for people with gambling problems.
7.5% State Parks
7.5% Watershed enhancements


Yes. I play it sometimes. Even if I don't get a winning ticket, I still win in another way, because I am an Oregon resident and the profits are used to improve Oregon.

- zipperback
:popcorn:

[billgoldberg]

Do you play your state's or another state's lottery?

I play Euromillions whenever they go over €50 million.

I still remember that British or Irish lady that won 138 million euro a few years back.

I laughed my *** off when she went public with the news, dumbest move ever.

[lukjad]

The lottery is a tax on those who can't do the math. ;)
So, no.

[Canis familiaris]

No Thank you very much. No lottery for me even it is meant for a good cause. I would rather donate directly to an Animal Society or an Open Source Project. :)

[gn2]

In the State of Oregon, where I live, 100% of profits from the proceeds of all lottery sales are distributed back to the public in the following manner:

64% Funding of Public education programs.
20% Economic development.
1% Treatment services for people with gambling problems.
7.5% State Parks
7.5% Watershed enhancements



Sounds good, but what percentage of the total ticket sales is "profit" and how much goes to the organisation that runs the lottery....?

[yabbadabbadont]

As others have posted, I see it as an occasional entertainment expense. I spend $2 on it about three times a year. I had one ticket a couple of years ago, where every number was off by one (some above, some below). That was amusing enough to be worth the dollar I spent on it. :lol: