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Do you play the lottery?
Penthesilea:
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?
serious crayons:
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.
southendmd:
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.
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: serious crayons 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:
--- End quote ---
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?
--- End quote ---
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.
--- End quote ---
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".
Meryl:
I play pretty regularly. It's the Pisces in me. ;)
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