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Who here plays the Lottery? Suckers.

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Imp said:
They should just force a mandatory lottery. Everyone has to play but you'll all get a chance to win... It'll make tax increases more tolerable?

The system right now is predatory. Preys on problem gamblers. The f-wit I was talking about earlier funneled probably 50% of his net income right back to the gubment -- I'm not against problem gamblers, just the ones that can't admit they have a problem and have never tried to get help like the one I know.
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The weird thing is in Tennessee about 10 years ago there was no lottery. It was the state democrats who pushed and pushed and finally got the lottery in Tennessee with a democratic governor. Poor people spend a disproportionate amount on the lottery while the children and the middle class kids benefit from the lottery scholarships.

https://cohen.house.gov/press-relea...success-tennessee-lottery-scholarship-program

Keep buying those tickets your poor schmucks.
 
ImpulsE69 said:
It's corrupt and BS just like most government sponsored things... less money goes to education than is supposed to. They just use the education movement to get them in. If as much really went to education as they lead you to believe the school system would be much better than it is.
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Actually quite a lot goes to the school system, but it is also more than just the schools. Schools are among the chief beneficiaries, but not the only one. Road improvements are likely one area we all benefit, as one example.

Of course it doesn't all go back to the tax payers, but it certainly is a benefit. You must also realize that even obscene amounts of money cannot always correct the education systems. Those issues take root in more issues than money alone.
 
destrekor said:
But the money goes toward education. :awe:


Seriously. I don't mind State-sponsored gambling at all. It goes to education.

If more people tried to learn, it might bring the education funds down. And we'd all be better. But people don't take advantage of what is given to them for free in most cases. Not the state's fault. They aren't preying on these people, these people are just too stupid to help themselves.

I like gambling, but not extensively. It's paid entertainment that sometimes returns some of the investment. That can't be said for all sources of entertainment.
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Yes, Lootery funds go to education, but to replace funds that no longer go to education from the general budget, not as additional funds. Your state is probably spending less per student with the lootery than they did before.
 
Markbnj said:
I buy a ticket every now and then, maybe four or five times a year. I risk a minuscule amount of capital for an astonishingly small chance at an amazingly large return. For a couple of hours I get to run "Haha, what if..." scenarios through my head, and then I lose and go on with my dreary existence. It's fun.
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pmuch this
 
I find it very telling that a thread about a large scale lottery jackpot rigging scam is largely ignored for "I might have a chance" comments.
 
ImpulsE69 said:
I find it very telling that a thread about a large scale lottery jackpot rigging scam is largely ignored for "I might have a chance" comments.
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It just made incredibly low odds slightly worse.
Oh well.


I do enjoy seeing officials taken down for corrupt behavior though. :thumbsup:
 
I only play the lottery games (Powerball and Megamillion) when the jackpot was up to a few hundreds million and only for a few dollars. My max out limit is $20.

Speaking of the large jackpot, Powerball is up to $227M.
 
A few years back IL sold off the lottery to a private company to be run. I used to do the $1 scratch offs on occasion, just for kicks. They used to be 1 in 4 would at least be worth a free ticket. Once the private company took over it went up to 1 in 7 for most of them.

Meh. Charities, lotto systems, that McDonalds game Kaido mentioned, Fanduel/Draftkings and so on. We all get fucked. Only way to win is to not play.
 
Markbnj said:
I buy a ticket every now and then, maybe four or five times a year. I risk a minuscule amount of capital for an astonishingly small chance at an amazingly large return. For a couple of hours I get to run "Haha, what if..." scenarios through my head, and then I lose and go on with my dreary existence. It's fun.
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this.
 
Markbnj said it right.

I play every single draw on 3 lotteries. I don't play to win, I play to dream. It's what gets me through the days considering that I have 20 more years left to work in a job I hate so I can live comfortably.
 
The computerized random number generators aren't totally random. They should stick with the ping pong ball machines.
 
who? said:
The computerized random number generators aren't totally random. They should stick with the ping pong ball machines.
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Those have been rigged as well. Multiple times. Any time large amounts of 'free' money are involved, someone will figure out how to scam it.
 
momeNt said:
After that sentence, I was totally sold on getting life advice from you.

There are far worse things to spend a dollar on.
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Do tell. I would be fascinated to hear what you consider 'worse'. Donations to Trumps campaign? Lay away on a hit man? The possibilities are endless.

I'm sorry you spend money on the lottery, but don't blame me.

On another note, I am curious once this is all investigated to death if there any with multiple winners(legit luckies+cheat). Making them sole winners if they get that additional money or are just screwed (since I imagine the money is gone anyway). Or..if they were rigged so that the guy/people involved were the only winner. (In which case, no, you have no chance of your dream).
 
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Every once in a great while I buy a single $1 scratcher ticket, usually when I am with my daughter. Teaching her to gamble, FTW. She and I both know I'm throwing away money, but it's cheap entertainment with the idea that it could be a winner. Holding on to the unscratched ticket is almost better than actually scratching it, which she always gets to do.

I've spent maybe $10-15 total on tickets this entire year, but won $20 from a dollar scratcher a few weeks ago. I took the twenty and didn't buy any more tickets. I may be a sucker, but I'm not dumb.
 
destrekor said:
But the money goes toward education. :awe:


Seriously. I don't mind State-sponsored gambling at all. It goes to education.

If more people tried to learn, it might bring the education funds down. And we'd all be better. But people don't take advantage of what is given to them for free in most cases. Not the state's fault. They aren't preying on these people, these people are just too stupid to help themselves.

I like gambling, but not extensively. It's paid entertainment that sometimes returns some of the investment. That can't be said for all sources of entertainment.
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Except in most cases the education claim is a lie. They made that claim in Michigan way back in the 70s when they first got the voters to approve it. What they didn't tell us was that for every dollar from the lottery earmarked for education they reduced education funding from the general fund by the exact same amount. It is a shell game the states used to just get more money without calling it a tax.
 
mrrman said:
I think the lotto in Canada is also rigged, Quebec and Ontario are always the winners
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Population of Canada = ~35 million
Population of Ontario = ~14 million
Population of Quebec = ~8 million

22/35 = 0.63

Then factor in income distributions, age of residents, and which ones buy more tickets. But you know what, ya, it really does seem like the lottery winners are always in Ontario...

Svnla said:
I only play the lottery games (Powerball and Megamillion) when the jackpot was up to a few hundreds million and only for a few dollars. My max out limit is $20.

Speaking of the large jackpot, Powerball is up to $227M.
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I know this is a common approach to the lottery -- only playing when the jackpot is big -- but I don't understand the logic of it (rhetorical lack of understanding). Anything over $1 million = set for life for most people. Here, there's a lottery that's at least a couple million per draw, but I have friends who supposedly only play when it's over $20M... One said she'd need a minimum of $20M or something to split it among friends and family. Ummm... fuck them? Or is that why I don't understand...
 
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