Do you play the lottery?

[Bertha Venation]

[Iggo]

1. 'Play' might not be the right word.

I donate for a chance to win every now and again.

(EDIT: I spel gud. I typ gud.)

[hunter]

2. Every time I have to change my meds!

:woohoo:

Lottery tickets are sorta boring in comparison.

[Bertha Venation]

3. hunter

:rofl: We're in the same club. :) (But then, we alread knew that.) :hug:

[hunter]

4. .

:hug:

[HopeHoops]

5. The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.

You're a fool to spend money on that shit.

[HERVEPA]

6. Exactly. And targets those who can least afford it.

[HopeHoops]

7. That's why there are six lottery signs on every block in low-income areas.

[Courtesy Flush]

8. That's a strong statement

But I've heard it many times in the past. It's true that you are almost guaranteed to lose money, but I've lost money every time I've bought raffle tickets, or alcohol, or cable TV. The lottery doesn't even qualify as gambling, since you don't really have a sporting chance.

If you borrow money to buy a thousand tickets, you're a moran, but if you pitch in on the office powerball pool, you send a bit of money back to the education system, and have a bit of fun.

Do not interpret any of my statements as a claim that you might really win. It's just another way to entertain yourself at a small cost.

[Silver Swan]

9. Yes, I always say

that the fun of just thinking about winning is worth a dollar.

[Seedersandleechers]

21. I'm with you!

It's worth a dollar just for the fantasy.

[HopeHoops]

11. A strong statement, but I stand by it.

You have a better chance of getting struck by lightening and bitten by a poisonous snake while the hot air balloon you are is is crashing than making anything in the long run on the lottery.

[hobbit709]

14. Rule one of gambling: Expect to lose.

I consider the $5 I spend on tickets about once a week or so entertainment money. I used to blow a lot more than that in a day in my drinking days.

Been bit by rattler, damn near blasted by lightning and other HVAC more than once, haven't gone up in a balloon.

[Deep13]

18. +1

[pinboy3niner]

20. Okay, I have to repeat a funny story here...

You've heard this, but for the benefit of those who haven't:

Years ago, I had a great opportunity to teach my young son about 'odds.'

He was very excited about sending in an entry coupon from the back of a cereal box to win a BMX bicycle (he was sure he'd win a bike).

I sat down with my son and together we went over the fine print, including the statement that the odds of winning were 1 in 10,000. Like any good dad with a great teachable moment, I gave my son a long-winded explanation about how long those odds were. I managed not to dash his hopes entirely, but his excitement was considerably dampened.

Several weeks later, we found a large cardboard box on our front porch. It was my son's brand-new BMX bike, won with an entry coupon from the back of a cereal box. I think that was the day I stopped being so smart in my son's eyes. :)

[Kali]

33. !

:rofl:

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

10. I bought a 5 dollar scratch off once on a hunch

And I won 50 dollars. Then I bought a 20 dollar scratch off and won 80 dollars. It was actually a lottery ticket where you had a 1 in 2 chance of winning something, as opposed to the typical 1 in 3 or 4. But there was a chance that you only won 10 dollars, in which case, you still lose.

Anyway, I kept on buying the 20 dollar scratch offs, because I kept on winning little amounts. This went on for about a month. I kept track of it a notepad so I knew how much I spent. I eventually wound up breaking even and stopped.

It was a lot of fun - I totally could have saw myself getting sucked in if I was a different kind of person. But I'm a pretty frugal person, so I figured that playing 20 dollar scratch offs every day for a month and breaking even was about as good as a person can do.

[GoCubsGo]

16. My sister is like that

She has great luck with the scratch offs. She'll also buy two or three of the same, which I guess she bases on the 1 in X chances of winning. Not a bad strategy, based on her results.

[Rochester]

12. I don't. Might as well flush it down the toilet.

[hobbit709]

13. It's cheaper than Vegas.

[Bucky]

26. Do scratch offs have floor shows and complimentary shrimp buffets?

Can you get drunk at scratch off games and wake up with a dead hooker in your hotel bathtub?

[hobbit709]

28. You don't want much for a buck do you?

[GoCubsGo]

15. Around once a month or so.

I play a specific set of numbers, and a quick pick on the Powerball. I may try them in MegaMillions next time, as my Powerball number got picked last time. Made a buck off that play, since picking only the Powerball gets you three.

[mvd]

17. Yep, I love playing scratch offs

I play the regular lottery like Powerball sometimes, but rarely. It hardly ever wins, and you have to get 4 numbers to really get anything. Scratch-offs have much better odds.

I haven't been doing as well on scratch offs lately, so I've cut back. Definite warning: most people will lose money in the long run. Unless you have luck or a strategy that pays off. I will only put in money I can afford to lose - that way it's fun.

[old mark]

19. Maybe twice a year, but yes....nt

[Broken_Hero]

22. about 4$ a week or so

usually two dollars scratchers. My last win was 50$ about a month ago, my wife won 40$ the same day. About 4 months back, we won 200$ in a span of three days...all on two dollars scratchers.

[Tom_Foolery]

23. Yes, I play the lottery...

And believe it or not, I'm pretty good at math. I know the odds and that it's probably a waste of money. So what? It's my money. Isn't everything outside of food, shelter, and clothing a waste of money? I guarantee that there is something that everyone on DU does that other people would think is a waste of money. Smoking (pot or tobacco)=waste of money. Drinking alcohol=waste of money. Going to a movie=waste of money. Some crazy hobby=waste of money. But who cares? If it's your money, do what you want. :shrug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. Yes, but I don't go overboard

In Oregon, where the lottery machines are self-service, I once saw a man spend $100 on Powerball tickets. I tried to explain that this would lower his odds from 300,000,000:1 all the way to 3,000,000:1, but he wasn't listening. He was sure that buying 100 combinations of numbers would win him the jackpot.

I've won several prizes between $50 and $250 over the years.

[bigwillq]

25. No (nt)

[Old Troop]

27. Once in awhile I buy a ticket, but never check to see if it's a winner.

It's the best entertainment you can get for a dollar -- you can dream about being incredibly rich as you drive to work. The weird thing is that about ten years ago my spouse and daughter decided to check my tickets and found one that won $50,000! It was worth about $36,000 after taxes.

[Moondog]

29. I've been known to buy a ticket. On what's her name's theory - see this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laE3sj678so&feature=related

Actually used to catch this lady live at a dive in Maryland (metro DC) called "The Twist and Shout". Yeah, I'm aging myself.

[Roon]

30. Not anymore, I am poor

I would rather buy a diet dr.pepper!

[Systematic Chaos]

35. What you said!

Diet Dr. Pepper is teh shit!

:toast:

[Roon]

37. Oh yeah, my boyfriend drinks regular dr.pepper

I hate the taste of it.

[GoneOffShore]

31. PowerBall every week -

Besides, it funds a prescription drug plan in PA for seniors.

And when we're on vacation, EuroMillions.

[rbnyc]

32. In an office pool. (nt)

[MrSlayer]

34. Yes. I throw a couple of bucks at the Powerball.

Someone has to win. And though the chances are astronomically bad someone always wins eventually. You never know.

[slay]

36. Not at all

the odds are too stacked and i can't waste the cash. if i was comfortable money-wise i'd probably play once a month or something.

[Swampguana]

38. Yes

I have to say yes but not on a regular basis. You can't win if you don't play and I have won. My partner and I won 100$ our first time playing, but that didn't make us addicted.

[tigereye]

39. once a year, on a whim

I figure I can save my money and come out ahead in the long run.

[haele]

40. Won $25K as part of a revolving office pool for the State's Mega-Millions last January.

Ended up being $18575 after they took the 25% federal tax off the top. Paid off a lot less outstanding bills than I should have with that; everyone in the family kept coming up with "just have to haves" and nickle-diming it away with "spending treats" like eating out instead of eating in, but we did put about a quarter of what we got in a CD to help with this year's bills before we started spending.

The pool is still going on - averaging about 20 - 25 people at any one time. We got a number of sign-ons after the January win - before that, we only averaged about 10-15.

We start with a $10 buy-in for a rotation of 10 tickets per person per weekly draw, using winnings to keep the rotation going every week(or refund the initial buy-in someone who wants to leave the pool) and supplement only when the ticket fund gets too low and everyone has to chip in a buck or two to keep the 10 ticket equivalency up.
Money only gets disbursed if everyone can get $20 and there still be enough in the pool to buy the next week's tickets.
And yes, we all get a copy of the ticket purchase, so we can check it against the draw. It's a pretty honest pool...

Haele

[Dulcinea]

41. Yes.

I buy Powerball & Mega Millions tickets. The odds of winning are probably better than a 45-year-old, long-term unemployed woman finding a job in this economy.

[femmocrat]

42. I contribute to a pool at work.

We never win anything though.