Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by godzillaking »

People like the rush of winning.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by AOEisLOVE_AOEisLIFE »

its a game designed to make you loose, like a more extreme casino. the real winners are as always the hosts..

lottery is like playing H20 for 10 dollar a game, and he gets 100% handicap. if you win one game you get a million dollar, but you have to play a lot of games to get lucky vs H20... doesnt sound exciting to me tbh.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

Too bad you can't moesbar IRL
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by deleted_user »

The entire point is the escapist fantasy. It can be pleasurable for others even if it is not pleasurable for yourself. Ironically the people who are quick to call the lottery a "tax on stupid" are more likely the stupid or rather ignorant or obtuse to the situation as a whole.

The lottery after all funds Tennessee's new free community college program. That's pretty neat.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Jaeger »

deleted_user wrote:The entire point is the escapist fantasy. It can be pleasurable for others even if it is not pleasurable for yourself. Ironically the people who are quick to call the lottery a "tax on stupid" are more likely the stupid or rather ignorant or obtuse to the situation as a whole.

The lottery after all funds Tennessee's new free community college program. That's pretty neat.

I've only ever bought a few tickets in my life. I wonder if it wears off if you do it every week. Most weeks are probably crushing defeats where you don't get any numbers. And if they're on the second to last number and you still haven't scored, you probably stop caring anyway.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Jaeger »

The weird thing is that 123456 is just as likely to win as another combination, but some people would call you crazy for picking it. Even knowing this, I would still have a lot of hesitation going for 123456 xD
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Goodspeed »

Won't many people pick 123456? Would that lower your profit? If not, it would bankrupt the lottery company which if I were them I would add a bunch of exceptions to my "random numbers generator" which makes sure common sequences are excluded :P
So either way it seems unwise to pick those numbers.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

@Jaeger People who think it is a bad bet say something alone the lines of "Have you ever seen 1 2 3 4 5 6 happen?", but they don't say that about "7 9 5 3 1 2" even though they have never seen that happen either, because to them, that is the same shit as any other patternless sequence - and patternless sequences are what show up every time.

Now, instead of using this argument to not be hostile towards betting on "1 2 3 4 5 6", they should remain hostile, and instead also be hostile towards any other sequence and stop playing the lottery. ;)

@Goodspeed I don't think people pick "1 2 3 4 5 6" at all. Obviously the different combinations vastly outnumber the people playing, so any arbitrary combination you pick is probably unique - but there might be that one nutjob who chose "1 2 3 4 5 6" just to take a picture and post it on Instagram, so it is as you say probably wise to avoid that sequence. However, if the combinations didn't vastly outnumber the people, I think picking something like "6 7 8 9 10 11" is almost certain to be unique, while a random sequence isn't.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Snuden »

Play 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 if you dare.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Jaeger »

Goodspeed wrote:Won't many people pick 123456? Would that lower your profit? If not, it would bankrupt the lottery company which if I were them I would add a bunch of exceptions to my "random numbers generator" which makes sure common sequences are excluded :P
So either way it seems unwise to pick those numbers.

I didn't think about that at all lol.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Vinyanyérë »

It's not so bad to put a small amount of money into the lottery if you're into fantasizing about what it's like to have a few hundred million dollars. Unfortunately, at least in the states, people actually spend a substantial portion of their income on lottery tickets (check out page 32: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/reports/lotfinal.pdf).

I wouldn't describe it as a tax on stupid people but it's pretty close to being a tax on poor people.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

Vinyanenya wrote:tax on poor people.
More commonly known as tax. ;)
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by godzillaking »

I remember arguing with a lady at the casino over the roulette table. She was saying the thing they show the past numbers on is important.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

It could be important if the wheel is biased but it would probably have to show hundreds of past numbers for it to be of any use, since the biases are very small. However, I am not sure that you can trust the employee spinning the wheel. I have heard rumors that some of them have trained their accuracy to be able to avoid a section of the wheel (the section with the most bets).
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by lejend »

It either happens or it doesn't. 50% chance of winning the lottery.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

50% chance of it either happening or not happening. 25% chance of winning the lottery.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by lejend »

Nah that's not how probability works dude.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

50% chance of it working that way. 12.5% chance of winning the lottery.
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Turkey HUMMAN
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by HUMMAN »

Rational is a relative term to determine an action. If the action is to gain more money in long term, (winning game) it is irrational. However, if it is done for enjoyment and excitement in this perspective it is rational.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Jam »

Here the lottery proceeds go to charity so you don't have to feel guilty!

Snuden wrote:Play 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 if you dare.

But what if I like tropical islands and adventure
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Netherland Antilles Laurence Drake
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Laurence Drake »

Jam wrote:Here the lottery proceeds go to charity so you don't have to feel guilty!

Snuden wrote:Play 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 if you dare.

But what if I like tropical islands and adventure

Sorry Jam, but according to my utility function it's not rational to like those things!
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by CelticCrusader »

Well the lottery here in the UK added 10 numbers to the draw fairly recently. It has increased the chance of winning from 1 in 14 million , to 1 in 45 million. People who win win more but people win far less often.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by deleted_user »

They've done similar in US. Higher jackpots stir up more excitement and get more entries.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by Gendarme »

It's not like people care about (or rather realise the magnitude of) the difference between 0.000007% and 0.000002% chance of winning, but winning $210,000,000 >>>>> winning $70,000,000.
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Re: Is it really irrational to play the lottery?

Post by JakeyBoyTH »

I think it depends on the person and their interests. I asked a co-worker of mine what they would do if they win the lottery. She answered that she would buy a house for her mother to live in and pay for bills etc. When I got asked the same question I said I would buy a Steak and Cheese instead of a Mince and Cheese. I don't really care about money (although it is in the forefront of my mind because I do not have much) I care about what experiences I have in life. Obviously winning the lottery would be nice, but if I have a nice and stable job as well as good friends then I think thats all I will need.
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