Lotteries Dissolve Brain Molecules

I'll just leave this here.

 

he would rather have had the money

 

The size of the fantasy is bigger and that's all that matters?

 

The odds of winning The Big One are 1:175,711,536. Therefore, if the jackpot is over $175,711,536, you can play every single combination and are guaranteed to win.

Of course, you'd have to buy 290.5 tickets a second for 24 hours a day for a whole week to get that amount, but that's just being picky.

 

But not guaranteed to win the entire jackpot, because someone else could pick the winning numbers, too. Then you'd have to split the prize, making it an even riskier 'investment'.

 

I didn't say you'd make a profit, I just said you'd win. And considering a huge chunk of your "winnings" would go to taxes...

 

Agreed. My nitpicking wasn't with you, but with the definition of 'expected value.' As they say, winning isn't everything. Death and taxes always seem to spoil the thrill.

 

The Lottery is a lesson in statistics for those who do not understand basic math.

 

Oh, so the odds of winning "it all" stays constant ?

 

Yup. The odds are always the same, no matter what the jackpot is.

 

Almost...the odds of winning stay the same. The odds of winning "it all" depend on whether someone else gets the winning numbers as well.

 

The odds of winning and the expected value are two different measures.

We still don't have a hope in hell, but that's a subjective approximation, rather than a method of statistical analysis.

 

In Vegas you cannot get from the front door of the hotel to the guest elevators that go to the rooms without walking the entire length of the casino. I don't know if they have a minimum age for gambling. But the kids are at least guaranteed to see the gambling going on and perhaps decide they want to get in on it when they are old enough.

In the interest of honesty, I've lost as much as $5 in a night of nickel-ante poker. I thought watching the ball and wheel would be exciting. It wasn't. It was worth a dollar to find that out. I no longer feel that pull to play the "fun" game.

I had friends, years ago, who played "friendly" poker where a single pot could grow to twenty or thirty dollars, though five or ten were more common. They were fond of saying that it had been "proven" that in the long run you'd break even. (The odds tend toward break-even, but no such thing has been proven.) I never played, but I sometimes watched. There was one guy who always brought a 12-pack of beer but never drank any of it himself. He seemed to win more often than he lost, especially as the night progressed. Smart guy. He was actually the person who taught me to drive a stick shift. (This was a long time ago.) Later on I heard a rumor that he had died in an extremely stupid accident, but I was never able to confirm that.

Guaranteed to win each prize, but since you'll probably have to share some of them, you are also guaranteed to lose money. Not a very bright strategy. Actually, the ONLY good strategy in a lottery is to be the one running the lottery.

 

Bingo!

 

Thanks,

I do not fully understand the rules for this game, but I'm willing to guess that most weeks approximate a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_distribution"]binomial distribution[/ame], in which case the jackpot is won about 36% of the time as the number of participants approaches 175 million. I presume each ticket is an independent event since people have mentioned that more than one person can choose the winning number.

 

I play the lottery... when I am in another State, I will play the games available in that State before I leave...

I play pools for all kinds of things, mostly football/baseball, but a couple of others too over the years...

I play in the casino...

I don't bet the farm...

I go into a casino with what I expect I can comfortably lose (cash a check inside so they send me comps too), I know the reason I am there is to be entertained by the place for some hours on end... and I also mean food... so when we're eating, I'll play Keno during the meal/show... the runners earn their tip ...

I know I am going to lose often when I gamble... it's not enough losses to think about not playing though, like I said, I use it as entertainment money in that regard... and because it will be quite entertaining getting more than I came with, or almost as good, like getting a discount on cruise tickets.

I put half of what I win in the other pocket... when we leave, I usually have more than what we came up with, but not always... easily more than 2/3rds of our visits up the hill are not in the red.

I play two lottery games...

That being said... I didn't win either this weekend... I hear there are three winning tickets in as many States...

 

Of the games offered at Casinos, Wikipedia says that Keno tends to offer the house the greatest advantage.

Anyway, I have to admit I have trouble grasping how gambling is a game, or why people think they are playing at something or being entertained.

 

Lot's of folks don't get why I like to fly upside-down practicing recovery from spins...


As to why you don't get how I get entertainment... that's a given Bra... different strokes for different folks.

 

Me too Bra...