Did you uh, click the link? There’s a very subtle counterpoint to your argument, but I’m confident you’ll see it if you try.
That would be a massive improvement on the usual Fox News.
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The fools who fritter it all away, they don’t tell journalists they plan to do something sensible with it first?
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You generally only have to split the winnings if you get the jackpot for a statewide lottery by picking six numbers. This woman bought a bunch of “Pick 4” tickets, which have better odds but smaller payouts (which aren’t split between winners). Of course that still doesn’t mean it was a smart investment, just a lucky one.
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What is it with me? I randomly pick to topics on the BBS and got discussions of randomness and luck?
Must be a sign.
Maybe that I shouldn’t stretch my luck further, stop reading distracting stuff and start to write R code for those Zero-inflated datasets. Someone suggested hurdle models, but currently the only hurdle I cannot get out of the way is me.
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As Corporal Nobby says, nine times out of ten a million to one chance happens.
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It’s not a woman winning the lottery after ‘seeing the numbers’. It’s just a spaceship passing by.
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One thing not considered in the expected value argument is that the value of $100,000 in my hand at once is much higher than the value of $1 in my hand each day of my life. One is, for most people, a life-changing event. The other is less than a cup of coffee.
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I would rather win the lottery than be struck by lightning. There, I’ve said it.
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This. When you can not save 1 dollar each day the winning is a life-changing event. Gives you hope to get out of the lifelong rut or debt. It’s not betting on probabilities, it’s betting on randomness. If the other guy can win the lottery why couldn’t I do it?
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If your goal in buying a lottery ticket is to support the agencies that receive the proceeds from lottery money, you’re better off making a direct donation to an NGO that works in the same issue space; lotteries generally pay about 50% of their total revenue to the winners.
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I know that not everyone is in a position to save even one dollar a day, but if you can afford to buy a lottery ticket every day then by definition you can also save a dollar a day.
I realize that the dream of winning the lottery can provide a glimmer of hope for people in otherwise desperate, seemingly hopeless situations. But that’s part of what makes it so insidious: it’s basically a regressive revenue-generating scheme that specifically targets the very people who can least afford to pay more in taxes. Instead of funding schools and parks by taxing billionaires we try to con the working poor out of their very last few bucks.
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Sure. But not everybody buys a ticket every day. Or 30 tickets all at once.
The devil is in the details.
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Maybe. I think a lot of people would talk about buying a new home or a fancy car. Something that they could afford now but would become impossible to maintain. She’s talking about renovating the home she has now which seems sensible and a good sign to me that the money will be well spent.
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exactly what i thought, from these stories it seems like she doesn’t understand how the lottery works, plays anyway, and is lucky enough to win. some context to this specific lottery type and if that was the case would have been helpful for context for sure!
no. 
those numbers have already been used up!
indeed. it preys on and exploits this very dynamic to the detriment of the poorer classes and is often called poor tax specifically due to this aspect.
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There are multiple state lottery games, including some that guarantee the same jackpot every time. These pick-4 daily games I think have a pot that only varies based on whether you get the exact order of the numbers or not.
I’m friendly with the guy who owns a local corner store (a “spa” around here) and he pointed out to me that every once in a while there will be multiple winners for one of the bigger daily games, and they all come from the same location-- it’s one person who wins six jackpots or something. I don’t think there’s some scam going on but there do appear to be people who buy the same numbers a bunch of times.
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649 is still around.
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It’s Data signalling her with instructions to avoid a collision with the USS Boseman, Oh well, if she doesn’t understand it this loop, it’ll eventually sink in.
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If I won 150k (which I wouldn’t because I don’t play the lottery, as I’m not a gambler) I’d order a brand new blue M3, do a factory delivery and drive it around Europe for a couple weeks with my wife. Fritter, I would.
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