Figure the Odds

The Big Ragu · May 3, 2010

mustangj17 said:

I hate that my state justifies the lottery by saying it goes to schools. Well really it doesn't. Because if the lottery makes more money then the state just allocates less to schools. So it all evens out.
Click to expand...

Huh?

playthrough · May 3, 2010

ucacm said:

jackfinarelli said:

Fundamentally, state-run lotteries are taxes levied on those people who never studied probability and statistics.

But if you derive enjoyment from playing the lottery and from the anticipation that you may the next $200K winner, then that enjoyment makes the cost of playing worth your while.

Bonne chance!
Click to expand...

I agree with this post. In essence, all forms of gambling are experiences where you will be a financial loser in the long term (of course, there are some exceptions to skill based games like poker). People should only gamble if they view it as a form of entertainment and do it within their means. Nothing worse than playing $5 blackjack with the miserable fuck that thinks he's a blackjack pro while blowing his paycheck.

My problem with the lottery is that it's SUCH a ripoff. Of course, in gambling, it seems like the higher the potential jackpot, the worse the house edge becomes.

For every dollar that is spent on a lottery ticket, roughly 50% actually goes into the prize pool. Then, if you're lucky enough to win the jackpot and want to take the lump sum? Oh, we'll slice approximately half off of the advertised jackpot. Now, you've got your lump sum payment? The federal government will take their 35% of your winnings. Live in a state with income taxes? Oh, that'll be another 3-11% after the state already withheld 50% of the initial lottery ticket price.

IIRC, the UK and Canada don't tax gambling winnings. Makes sense, because the lottery is already a tax.
Click to expand...

But you can deduct gambling losses on taxes. So save those losing tickets, suckers.

I'll confess, I'm one of those birdbrains that will only buy a Powerball ticket when the jackpot hits $250 mill or some record amount. Because I couldn't live on $195 million.

Small Town Guy · May 3, 2010

I never buy lottery tickets but work does take a collection when the powerball gets ridiculously high - over 200 million. I used to always throw in the five dollars required, thinking, jesus, how horrible will I feel if they win it and I'm stuck here while they retire? I finally stopped like the last seven or eight times they collected, because the most we won was like 15 bucks, paid out to like 30 people. Now we just got another email. This time it's only 3 dollars. Agh. I'll probably now waste 3 bucks again, simply because I couldn't handle having my colleagues win and leave me behind.

BTExpress · May 3, 2010

I never buy lottery tickets but work does take a collection when the powerball gets ridiculously high - over 200 million. I used to always throw in the five dollars required, thinking, jesus, how horrible will I feel if they win it and I'm stuck here while they retire? I finally stopped like the last seven or eight times they collected, because the most we won was like 15 bucks, paid out to like 30 people. Now we just got another email. This time it's only 3 dollars. Agh. I'll probably now waste 3 bucks again, simply because I couldn't handle having my colleagues win and leave me behind.
Click to expand...

If they all win and retire, then the odds of the company laying you off decline dramatically.

Ben_Hecht · May 3, 2010

playthrough said:

ucacm said:

jackfinarelli said:

Fundamentally, state-run lotteries are taxes levied on those people who never studied probability and statistics.

But if you derive enjoyment from playing the lottery and from the anticipation that you may the next $200K winner, then that enjoyment makes the cost of playing worth your while.

Bonne chance!
Click to expand...

I agree with this post. In essence, all forms of gambling are experiences where you will be a financial loser in the long term (of course, there are some exceptions to skill based games like poker). People should only gamble if they view it as a form of entertainment and do it within their means. Nothing worse than playing $5 blackjack with the miserable fuck that thinks he's a blackjack pro while blowing his paycheck.

My problem with the lottery is that it's SUCH a ripoff. Of course, in gambling, it seems like the higher the potential jackpot, the worse the house edge becomes.

For every dollar that is spent on a lottery ticket, roughly 50% actually goes into the prize pool. Then, if you're lucky enough to win the jackpot and want to take the lump sum? Oh, we'll slice approximately half off of the advertised jackpot. Now, you've got your lump sum payment? The federal government will take their 35% of your winnings. Live in a state with income taxes? Oh, that'll be another 3-11% after the state already withheld 50% of the initial lottery ticket price.

IIRC, the UK and Canada don't tax gambling winnings. Makes sense, because the lottery is already a tax.
Click to expand...

But you can deduct gambling losses on taxes.
Click to expand...

. . . but only against winnings . . . which is why playing for a huge
lottery jackpot while under U. S. jurisdiction is decidedly unwise.
You're better off playing the Derby superfecta.

Buck · May 3, 2010

Ben_Hecht said:

playthrough said:

ucacm said:

jackfinarelli said:

Fundamentally, state-run lotteries are taxes levied on those people who never studied probability and statistics.

But if you derive enjoyment from playing the lottery and from the anticipation that you may the next $200K winner, then that enjoyment makes the cost of playing worth your while.

Bonne chance!
Click to expand...

I agree with this post. In essence, all forms of gambling are experiences where you will be a financial loser in the long term (of course, there are some exceptions to skill based games like poker). People should only gamble if they view it as a form of entertainment and do it within their means. Nothing worse than playing $5 blackjack with the miserable fuck that thinks he's a blackjack pro while blowing his paycheck.

My problem with the lottery is that it's SUCH a ripoff. Of course, in gambling, it seems like the higher the potential jackpot, the worse the house edge becomes.

For every dollar that is spent on a lottery ticket, roughly 50% actually goes into the prize pool. Then, if you're lucky enough to win the jackpot and want to take the lump sum? Oh, we'll slice approximately half off of the advertised jackpot. Now, you've got your lump sum payment? The federal government will take their 35% of your winnings. Live in a state with income taxes? Oh, that'll be another 3-11% after the state already withheld 50% of the initial lottery ticket price.

IIRC, the UK and Canada don't tax gambling winnings. Makes sense, because the lottery is already a tax.
Click to expand...

But you can deduct gambling losses on taxes.
Click to expand...

. . . but only against winnings . . . which is why playing for a huge
lottery jackpot while under U. S. jurisdiction is decidedly unwise.
You're better off playing the Derby superfecta.
Click to expand...

I got two of four in the superfecta.
That does not pay.

Ben_Hecht · May 4, 2010

Buck said:

Ben_Hecht said:

playthrough said:

ucacm said:

jackfinarelli said:

Fundamentally, state-run lotteries are taxes levied on those people who never studied probability and statistics.

But if you derive enjoyment from playing the lottery and from the anticipation that you may the next $200K winner, then that enjoyment makes the cost of playing worth your while.

Bonne chance!
Click to expand...

I agree with this post. In essence, all forms of gambling are experiences where you will be a financial loser in the long term (of course, there are some exceptions to skill based games like poker). People should only gamble if they view it as a form of entertainment and do it within their means. Nothing worse than playing $5 blackjack with the miserable fuck that thinks he's a blackjack pro while blowing his paycheck.

My problem with the lottery is that it's SUCH a ripoff. Of course, in gambling, it seems like the higher the potential jackpot, the worse the house edge becomes.

For every dollar that is spent on a lottery ticket, roughly 50% actually goes into the prize pool. Then, if you're lucky enough to win the jackpot and want to take the lump sum? Oh, we'll slice approximately half off of the advertised jackpot. Now, you've got your lump sum payment? The federal government will take their 35% of your winnings. Live in a state with income taxes? Oh, that'll be another 3-11% after the state already withheld 50% of the initial lottery ticket price.

IIRC, the UK and Canada don't tax gambling winnings. Makes sense, because the lottery is already a tax.
Click to expand...

But you can deduct gambling losses on taxes.
Click to expand...

. . . but only against winnings . . . which is why playing for a huge
lottery jackpot while under U. S. jurisdiction is decidedly unwise.
You're better off playing the Derby superfecta.
Click to expand...

I got two of four in the superfecta.
That does not pay.
Click to expand...

Neither does the lottery, 99.999999999999999999999999944
of the time.

Not to mention that you were bucking an infinitely smaller "take" than the frickin'
lottery.

Football_Bat · May 4, 2010

See, Texas is totally the opposite. A lottery but no casinos. You have to go to Shreveport or Oklahoma.

JackReacher · May 4, 2010

Football_Bat said:

See, Texas is totally the opposite. A lottery but no casinos. You have to go to Shreveport or Oklahoma.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was definitely bitter when I drove through Texas last summer and realized there were no casinos.

JR · May 4, 2010

Somebody up here said it best: "Lotteries are a tax on the stupid".--which includes me from time to time.

In Canuckistan lottery winnings are not taxable. If you win $20 million, you get a cheque for $20 million.

JackReacher · May 4, 2010

The best are those fake scratch-offs. My step-dad, who plays about $10 a day on the real ones, received the fakes for Xmas one year. Thought he won $5 million or something crazy like that. Quickest I've ever seen anyone go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Good times.

93Devil · May 4, 2010

Casinos were not built on the winners, and states do not have lotteries to lose money.

Take out a calculator and do this 40 x 39 x 38 x 37 x 36 x 35. What number do you get? That is your one-in-chance of winning. Oh, you still might split the purse.

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