Playing the Lottery;is it rigged?

1. 80

   Stacie Lposted 14 years ago

   I see commercials for the local state lotteries and the national ones and wonder if I'm just wasting my money buying a ticket.
   it is a harmless past time and doesn't cost very much.
   on the other hand,it does cause some people with an addictive impersonality to gamble too much..
   do you spend money on a weekly lottery?
   how much do you spend?

   replyreport
   1. 59

      1youcantooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think so i play the machine all week and lost every single day a couple hundred bucks. Stupid machines. Not Liking the Oregon lotto right now.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         thastarposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I SPEND MONEY  PLAYING  PLAY WHE  AND CASH POT.SOMETIME I WIN ,BUT I LOSE.I WOULDN'T BLAME THE MACHINES IS JUST NOT YOUR DAY.I SPEND PLENTY MONEY ON LOTTERY.I 'M NOT ADDICTIVE TO GAMBLING I ONLY SPEND ONE HUNDRED BUCKS A WEEK.

         replyreport
   2. 64

      Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      My father, an economist, always told me the lottery is a tax on the stupid.  He doesn't mince words.

      replyreport
      1. 78

         wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         A tax on the stupid.  I like it - that is exactly what it is.

         replyreport
      2. 78

         IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         This 'tax on the stupid', which it undoubtedly is, is robbing milk from newborns' mouths.
         
         The lowest paid are so desperate to get out of poverty, they spend proportionately more of their income on lottery tickets than the rich.
         
         Lotteries are evil, and the politicians who permitted State run lotteries are worse.

         replyreport
         1. 64

            Maddie Ruudposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            That's exactly how I feel about MLM schemes, too.

            replyreport
         2. 78

            wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I can't really go with you here, Izzy.  While it is, in a sense, robbing milk as you put it it probably does no harm.  Anyone silly enough to think they are going to win the lottery will simply fall for some other scam (sucker born every minute kind of thing) if they don't put it in the lottery.
            
            Maybe the MLM schemes as Maddie says.  At least the lottery is open and above board about the chances of winning; MLM companies promise the moon (verbally and by innuendo) and produce nothing.  The numbers and facts that will tell a prospective member what is most likely to happen are well hidden and very seldom revealed.

            replyreport
      3. 59

         logic,commonsenseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         If one thinks they are going to come out ahead, then yes.  However, I play and hope others do as well because it helps keep our other taxes down and..... ya just never know.

         replyreport
   3. 0

      Mr Tindleposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Lotteries are designed to bring in money for government not the people who play them. Somebody will win (for marketing purposes to entice as many people as possible to play), but it probably won't be you.

      replyreport
   4. 74

      Hugh Williamsonposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The odds of winning anything are infinitesimally small, so they don't need to fix a lottery in order to make a lot of money. I don't think it's crooked but I wouldn't count on it for a source of income.
      
      I used to buy a ticket now and then - my idea is if you get a dollar's worth of fun out of buying a dollar ticket, then why not? If you spend a lot of $ each week buying tickets, that could be a problem.
      
      By the way, remember when lotteries started and we were told all the money would go to education? That's probably the only crooked thing about lotteries.

      replyreport
2. 59

   logic,commonsenseposted 14 years ago

   The odds are just so horrible, it seems like it is.  I play more than I should, but not nearly as much as some people.  Have won a few thousand over the years.  Was hoping I would win the last Mega Millions jackpot,319 million, so I could break even!

   replyreport
   1. 70

      Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      
      
      @OP- of course the house is favored. Otherwise, it wouldn't be gambling.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         vellosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         No, I highly doubt it is rigged. Think of the disaster that would befall them if they really rigged it and that got out in the press.

         replyreport
3. 53

   kmackey32posted 14 years ago

   I almost never buy lottery tickets. The odds of winning are too low for me to compete pluss I dont like giving the money I worked for away so easily. I may buy one once a year if that...lol

   replyreport