Author Topic: Do you play the lottery?  (Read 6105 times)

Offline Penthesilea

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Do you play the lottery?
« on: February 16, 2009, 10:13:16 am »
I've just read an interesting tidbit about the German Public Lottery.

In Germany, we play 6 out of 49. This means, in a field are the numbers 1 to 49 and you check six of them. On Saturdays, the six correct numbers for that week are drawn. The chances to win (the main prize) are 1/ 139.8 millions.
 :o

Next to nothing, as we all know. I think no matter what type of lotteries other countries have, the chances aren't significantally better/worse.

For illustration purposes, a mathematician had the following comparison: put a stick of one centimeter width (roughly half an inch) somewhere along the interstate route between Berlin and Rome. That's 1521 km, which is 945 miles. The distance between Childress and Riverton is 942 miles BTW; almost the same distance :).

Then a car drives all the way while the front seat passanger is blindfolded, and is given a coin. Now the passanger tries to hit the stick with the coin.

This is how big your chances are to win the lottery.

 ;D ::) :-\ ;D :laugh:



Do you play the lottery?

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2009, 11:23:59 am »
I put "maybe once a year," though it is probably more like three times a year. I never played at all until about three years ago, then money got tight and I realized I couldn't afford NOT to play!  :laugh:

Plus, my kids love it. So every now and then, when they ask for it, I do. But what we actually usually play is not the lottery per se, but scratch-off cards. Do you have those, Chrissi? You scratch off the silver rubbery stuff, and underneath hope to find some certain pattern of numbers or symbols, like three of a kind or whatever, like you might get on a slot machine. The winning patterns are worth different amounts of money, usually also depending on the cost of the card itself. I've never won more than about $10, which I then invest in new cards until I lose everything.

Your mathematician's analogy is interesting, except for one thing. If a million cars went on that route, still nobody might ever hit the stick. However, people do occasionally hit the jackpot. Knowing that it's at least possible, and that for a small amount you can buy the chance that it will be you, is what keep people playing.

Offline southendmd

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2009, 12:15:29 pm »
Almost never.

Remember the old saying:  "The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math"?   :-\

There are so many different kinds of lottery here:  scratch tickets (there seem to be countless different kinds; they just started a $10 ticket in my state), daily numbers, the weekly numbers (I think there are six different weekly numbers), and the big regional multi-state ones that pay the really big bucks.

Some states rely on lottery income for a substantial part of their budget.

Fact is, enough people play, some actually do win.  It gets publicized, and attracts people to keep playing. 

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2009, 02:01:51 pm »
I put "maybe once a year," though it is probably more like three times a year. I never played at all until about three years ago, then money got tight and I realized I couldn't afford NOT to play!  :laugh:


I also never played until about two years and a half years ago, when I wanted to go on the Alberta-pilgrimage.
Of course I didn't win, and also didn't make it to Alberta - but I went to the Colorado BBQ instead!


Quote
Plus, my kids love it. So every now and then, when they ask for it, I do. But what we actually usually play is not the lottery per se, but scratch-off cards. Do you have those, Chrissi?


Dang, almost three years into it and you still seem to be my unknown twin on the other side of the pond :laugh:. For me it's also the kids who make me play the lottery once or twice a year. Mostly if there's a high jackpot and it's all over the news.

We also have those scratch-off cards. But I don't play them, I play the regular thing.


Quote
Your mathematician's analogy is interesting, except for one thing. If a million cars went on that route, still nobody might ever hit the stick. However, people do occasionally hit the jackpot. Knowing that it's at least possible, and that for a small amount you can buy the chance that it will be you, is what keep people playing.

Well, he said the the statistical probability is be the same. That was the idea behind it: to find an example to make those huge numbers more comprehensible. Of course I can't retrace what variables he factored into the equotation, and how correct it is.

And for the records: I also voted "Very rarely".

Offline Meryl

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2009, 02:05:40 pm »
I play pretty regularly.  It's the Pisces in me.   ;)
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline mariez

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2009, 02:07:13 pm »
I'm also a "very rarely" but I do know someone who won $5,000 once. 

I think it becomes almost a superstition for some people.  I have a neighbor who has bought a $1 Lotto ticket for years and years and plays the same numbers every week.  He's never won, but he's afraid that the first week he stops playing, those numbers will come up!  So I guess he looks at it like a $1 a week insurance policy.   :-\

Marie
The measure of a country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis         ~~~~~~~~~Thurgood Marshall

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.    ~~~~~~~~~ Mark Twain

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2009, 02:37:57 pm »
I'm also a "very rarely" but I do know someone who won $5,000 once. 

I think it becomes almost a superstition for some people.  I have a neighbor who has bought a $1 Lotto ticket for years and years and plays the same numbers every week.  He's never won, but he's afraid that the first week he stops playing, those numbers will come up!  So I guess he looks at it like a $1 a week insurance policy.   :-\

Marie


I can understand your neighbour :laugh:.

I won twice in my life: one time it was 18€ in the lottery (yes, back then when I played for Alberta! :laugh:). The other, biggest win I ever had, was a, wait for it, a bacon!
The bacon was not from the lottery, but from a tombola for charity purposes. It was huge, if memory serves it was about 5 kilo (ten pounds). We ended up dividing it into several portions and giving them to our friends and family.

Offline Brokeback_Dev

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2009, 02:40:58 pm »
ive tried it but i dont like to gamble.  I consider playing lotto(as they call it in florida) throwing away a dollar. Times $52 a year.  Naw, ill pass.

Offline Berit

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2009, 03:46:44 pm »
I must admit to buy a ticket every now and then......but I KNOW there is a possibility to win....small but it's there!! ;D

My mum won a car, a small one - Nissan Micra - in 1994. Since she never has got a driving licence she gave it away to her onlychild....that's me  :laugh: After 300 000 kilometers it gave up....but we spent almost nothing on that car, it just worked and worked and worked.....

So I play now and then....and mom, she tries to get us a new car...... :laugh:....no luck yet!!
Ennis.....always Ennis.....

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Do you play the lottery?
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2009, 03:56:37 pm »
I must admit to buy a ticket every now and then......but I KNOW there is a possibility to win....small but it's there!! ;D

My mum won a car, a small one - Nissan Micra - in 1994. Since she never has got a driving licence she gave it away to her onlychild....that's me  :laugh: After 300 000 kilometers it gave up....but we spent almost nothing on that car, it just worked and worked and worked.....

So I play now and then....and mom, she tries to get us a new car...... :laugh:....no luck yet!!


Wow, a car! That's a great lottery story! :)