Lottery

[milefile]

I used to make fun of people who bought lottery tickets. Now I buy them, probably because I see now that it is my only chance of ever being rich. I get Powerball and another one called The Pick, which I think is a local Arizona one. They both draw on Wednesday and Saturday so I spend four dollars a week on it. I see the people who win and I just think to myself, "look at that guy, that could be me," so I fork out the two bucks, twice a week. Do you ever buy lottery tickets? Ever won?

 

[sn00pie]

My brother tends to buy a lot of lottery tickets, never wins anything. It's alright though, because I get to make fun of him for it.

 

[made in holland]

I buy a ticket from the State lottery once a month.

 

[LoudMusic]

Where is the money going? Does it support public schools or anything like that?

 

[made in holland]

They divide the money between charity, prize money for next month and government projects. ( Homeless shelter, that kind of projects.)

 

[milefile]

I have heard of people who spend over fifty dollars a week. These people have defective brains. They also tend to be poor. What they don't understand is that you do not increase your chance of winning by buying more than one. It's really rather sad and pathetic.

 

[Duke]

Lottery = a tax on people who are bad at math.

 

[LoudMusic]

Well, if you buy more than one with different number then you increase your odds ... because you have more chances to win.

If you purchase more than one with the same number then you increase your share of the winnings if there are multiple winners ... which happens often.

 

[Tercel_driver]

I dont, but my dad does. However, he always goes with the same set of numbers (Powerball). So far, once he got 4 of them.

 

[Tazio]

My sister had me going all over to different gas stations looking for a specific scratch ticket. This was because she said that she had a dream that I won $11,000 on a blue, $5 scratch ticket. All the people working at the stations looked at me funny when I asked:

Got any $5 tickets?

Yes.

Are they Blue?

No.

Okay, nevermind.




I never did win.

 

[Duke]

I was at a bar one Friday night, and there was a guy at the end of the bar who had cashed his week's paycheck, bought a bottle of whiskey from the bar (ouch), and had taken the entire rest of it in scratch tickets. By the time we left 2 hours later he was most of the way through the stack, and had almost broken even.

 

[sn00pie]

Originally posted by neon_duke
I was at a bar one Friday night, and there was a guy at the end of the bar who had cashed his week's paycheck, bought a bottle of whiskey from the bar (ouch), and had taken the entire rest of it in scratch tickets. By the time we left 2 hours later he was most of the way through the stack, and had almost broken even.

That's pathetic.

 

[Duke]

$4 a week isn't much to lose, but $400 is, especially if you need that money for little luxuries like food and rent.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by neon_duke
Lottery = a tax on people who are bad at math.

That's true...but, you stand a chance, albeit infinitesimal, to win. I guess I just changed my mind and decided it was worth it.

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by LoudMusic
Well, if you buy more than one with different number then you increase your odds ... because you have more chances to win.

If you purchase more than one with the same number then you increase your share of the winnings if there are multiple winners ... which happens often.

Every ticket bought decreases the odds for everybody, including yourself.

 

[Tazio]

Originally posted by sn00pie
That's pathetic.

Why is it pathetic?

If he broke even, that means that he got a free bottle of whiskey!

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by Tazio
Why is it pathetic?

Just drinking a bottle of whiskey in a night is pathetic.

 

[Tazio]

Agreed.

But you gotta admit, it would be pretty cool to make a stupid decision like blowing your paycheck on scratch tickets, & then having it all work out.

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by milefile
That's true...but, you stand a chance, albeit infinitesimal, to win. I guess I just changed my mind and decided it was worth it.

Like I said, $4/week is a very tolerable loss.

 

[Joey]

My parents never bought any.
They tell me the Bible says it's wrong.

Like, it's gambling, or something like that.

 

[LoudMusic]

Originally posted by milefile
Every ticket bought decreases the odds for everybody, including yourself.

It decreases the chances per ticket but increases per individual.

 

[milefile]

I'm borrowing my information from a statistics major. I trust her judgement, although I'm unable to reiterate her logic. Even assuming it does increas your chance, the amount of money spent in relation to the increase in odds makes it not worth it, to me.

 

[Gil]

One of the secretaries I work with has a "system" and she is never off by more than one or two in either direction. Plus with all the different tickets sold in KS and MO, she NEVER loses. She may not win more than a buck or two. But she NEVER loses. When she goes to the riverboats she usually comes home with way more than she put out.
But even with her luck, I very rarely buy a ticket.

 

[vat_man]

I only buy if the prize is over $AUS 10 million, which would be when it jackpots, so maybe once a week, 2-3 weeks in a row, four or five times a year. It's run by the government, so the profits go back to the state government. I know the odds are incredibly high, and statistically the reward doesn't justify the outlay. Oh well - someone's got to win it.

 

[LoudMusic]

Originally posted by milefile
I'm borrowing my information from a statistics major. I trust her judgement, although I'm unable to reiterate her logic. Even assuming it does increas your chance, the amount of money spent in relation to the increase in odds makes it not worth it, to me.

In a lottery there is a pre-defined number of available results. Usually it's 5 two-digit numbers (if I recall correctly) each ranging 1 to 53. Isn't that how PowerBall works? They throw in a red ball number too ...

Anyway, they did the math and came up with 1:2,939,677.32 chance of winning. Lets say 1:3mil if you buy one ticket.

So if you buy two tickets with different numbers wouldn't you call that 2:3mil? Or 1:1.5mil? If you want to use some funky statistics to tell me that that isn't actually the way the math plays out then I'd have to respond with what if you bought all the available options? 3mil:3mil? 1:1. You're garounteed to win. But purchasing one of every possibility is usually more expensive than the prize (:

 

[Timmotheus]

Originally posted by LoudMusic
In a lottery there is a pre-defined number of available results. Usually it's 5 two-digit numbers (if I recall correctly) each ranging 1 to 53. Isn't that how PowerBall works? They throw in a red ball number too ...

Anyway, they did the math and came up with 1:2,939,677.32 chance of winning. Lets say 1:3mil if you buy one ticket.

So if you buy two tickets with different numbers wouldn't you call that 2:3mil? Or 1:1.5mil? If you want to use some funky statistics to tell me that that isn't actually the way the math plays out then I'd have to respond with what if you bought all the available options? 3mil:3mil? 1:1. You're garounteed to win. But purchasing one of every possibility is usually more expensive than the prize (:

It seems to me that that statistic is faulty. How can there be a fractional chance of winning? The ratio cannot be reduced once the permutation (Or is it a combination? I forget which is which.) is evaluated because there is only one winning ticket. A fraction with a numerator of one is already in it's smallest form (and the same as the statistic, for that matter.) As for the actual permutation (Combination?) math, it is impossible to get a fraction of a number. There is no way to have a fractional group of numbers. Everything is in whole numbers. The statistic makes no sense.