What do you think of lotteries?

[JellyBaby]

Apparently I'm an idiot because I've never bought a state lottery ticket. There are people who spend $5/week on tickets and will never stop. I just don't see any good reason to throw the money away. Your odds are winning are so damn small! Plus the idea of government getting even more money from me is a turn off. Am I an idiot?

 

[Tonec]

Without lotteries many public schools would lose funding. Despite the odds, people play the lottery for the same reason they crack rc5 all day.

 

[wake]

If you get the right numbers, you will win money. Alot of money. That's it.

 

[Ornery]

$5.00 per week! Try per day! I've never played it myself though. Let's see, how much money I'm ahead at this point: At $5 per week, that's about $2,500 over 10 years. At $5.00 per day, I'm at $18,250 assuming I'd have never won anything, which is about par

And if anybody thinks people crack RC5 for the money, they're on crack!

 

[ViRGE]

I love the lottery. My grandparents just won a 1.25mil prize(took lump sum, 50%, then taxes on that, got $400K at the end), so I can't complain.

 

[4824guy]

I work with a guy that must spend around $50-70 each workdayt. I never see him win more that $10. He has won $100 a bunch of times, and once for $500. I can't believe the amount of money he wastes on scratch tickets, getting nothing in return for them. THese are just a plain RIP OFF.

 

[pastee]

Lotteries sound like a big joke to me, since the odds of winning are worse than becoming the chief of an alien civilization.

 

[BiB]

Tax on those who are bad at math.

 

[UG]

Yep, lotteries are for the mathematically-challenged.

You'll be better off, odds-wise, taking your money to the nearest Blackjack or Craps table.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Regressive tax, better off investing.

 

[Pastfinder]

I think that in principle they are evil yet the money generated from them can be put to useful things of good nature, like education

 

[JellyBaby]

<< money generated from them can be put to useful things of good nature, like education >>

So administrators and bureocrats can suck up even more taxpayer dollars? Don't be silly.

 

[Windogg]

I've bought 1 scratch ticket since a Prop/Stat course back in college. I think I have a greater chance of getting flattened by an engine falling off a 747 than hitting the jackpot.

Windogg

 

[Moonbeam]

Gambling is addictive and should be illegal.

 

[BiB]

Anybody who spends more than a very tiny portion of their income on lottery tickets is a moron. I understand spending money &quot;ocassionally&quot; just for the fun aspect, but anybody hoping to cash in on a big win is kidding themselves. Lotteries make money by putting out less than they put in. Thus if you throw away $50,000 over your life into them statistically you'll end up with less won over that time.

Funniest is when people say &quot;I only play it when its really big&quot; - what $4 million isn't big enough? The rest of the idiots in the world are thinking the same thing so when its up to $50 million you have even less of a chance!

 

[nickdakick]

<< Gambling is addictive and should be illegal. >>


Drinking is addictive and should be illegal.
Inet surfing is addictive and should be illegal.
Sex is addictive and should be illegal.
Everything can be addictive and should be illegal.

What a nonsense.

 

[~zonker~]

My favorite quote about the lottery goes something like...

&quot;Your chances of getting struck by lightning on your way to buy the ticket are greater than your odds of buying the winning ticket&quot;

I'll keep the cash and let someone else take those odds...

 

[AndrewR]

With all things, people can go overboard, and the lottery is no different. A dollar or two per week is hardly a significant drain -- everyone here probably spends more on soda and snacks per week, which is guaranteed NEVER to pay off. The only common denominator among all winners of the lottery is that they bought a ticket.

I rarely play though I do buy the scratch tickets on occasion. I've probably spent about $30 on them over the last five years and have won a total of about $10 and maybe 6 free tickets. It's mildly amusing.

Moonbeam: Your support for a police state is becoming more apparent every day.

 

[Moonbeam]

Hehe, AndrewR. OK you win. How about we make it like cigarettes. It's legal but if a family member is destroyed financially, the relatives, especially any children can sue for restitution plus pain and suffering.

Seriously, it's an interesting society that allows it's weakest members to be preyed upon and harvested like forced organ donners in the name of freedom of choice, while at the same time society doesn't want to spend a nickle redressing the mass ignorance and emotional stupidity of our culture that helps mow people down en masse.

How does tough love correspond to a police state. Parents guide their children. In the lunitic asylum, however, must we rely upon the marketplace competition of ideas to convince the inmates of what their treatment shall consist. Ah yes, our treatment shall consist of us burning down the building with us in it. Good idea.

 

[Xzaver]

Gambling destroys things in many ways......It destroys communities ,Towns ,Households.
It's not gambling thats bad, anyone can make a friendly wager...It's greed that is the problem , And State Lotterys only Endorse that Greed.

Money ,hehe lol
Trust someone who has had and spent tons of it.,, It will only make you happy untill you no longer have it.




<< &quot; Anyone who tells you money can't buy happyness dosn't have it &quot; >>



Ahhnn! wrong ! , Money is the root of all evel.


Gambling is not the problem &quot;Greed&quot; is.


Regards,
-Xzaver-