My Yearly Lottery Ticket

[GeorgeParker]

I just bought my yearly lottery ticket. Ten drawings for $1 each with the same numbers each time. So for each of the next ten weeks I have the possibility of winning $200,000 or at least winning my $10 back. ;)

As a once-a-year gamble, that's pretty cheap entertainment.
https://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/lottery/Games/Texas_Two_Step/index.html

[iris lilies]

I wish you luck!

[bae]

There's a fellow who understands marginal utility!

[iris lilies]

A detectorist fellow found the top of Henry Viii’s crown when he was out doing metal detecting two days ago.

Pretty exciting! Your odds are probably higher than his!


https://www.the-sun.com/news/2235294/2million-centrepiece-henry-viii-lost-crown-found-tree-400-years/

[Teacher Terry]

We would buy lottery tickets when going to California because we pass right by where they are sold. Not rich yet:))

[GeorgeParker]

Your odds are probably higher than his!Definitely! My odds of winning at least $5 are 1:32.4 per drawing. Even the odds of winning the $200,000+ Jackpot are 1:1,832,600 per drawing,which are very good odds compared to the lotterys with multi-million dollar jackpots.

3604

[ToomuchStuff]

Pre covid, my mother liked to "gamble" at the boat (play slots with girlfriends). Somewhere between $20 and $60 a month to several months apart (weather/life issues for everybody). My father, would buy 2 to 4 tickets a week, as that was his gambling. I would end up buying them for him, if the weather was bad, and I had the opportunity on the way into work (gas station close, and I would be reimbursed).

Never needed them for the fantasy of what if, and I have never seen the odds of me buying the winner, verses me finding a winning ticket on the ground, but I would expect they are not far apart.

[GeorgeParker]

I have never seen the odds of me buying the winner, verses me finding a winning ticket on the ground, but I would expect they are not far apart.Quite the contrary. For most scratchoffs the odds against you winning back the price of your ticket are 3 or 4 to 1. IOW over time you'll probably lose 75% of your money. Of course the odds of you winning more than you paid for the scratchoff are worse than that, but still much better than the odds of finding a winning scratchoff laying on the ground.

The odds of winning back the price of a lottery ticket are usually much worse than the scratchoff odds, but the top prizes are much bigger, and the odds of winning back at least the price of the ticket are still better than your chances of finding a winner on the ground. :laff:

[jp1]

There's a fellow who understands marginal utility!

Indeed. I had a professor in college who thought the most logical thing was to purchase one ticket every drawing. His opinion was that your chance of winning was zero if you didn't have a ticket and just slightly above zero if you did have a ticket. But that the odds of winning were still just slightly above zero if you bought two or ten or a hundred tickets, so you should stick with just buying one.

[GeorgeParker]

Indeed. I had a professor in college who thought the most logical thing was to purchase one ticket every drawing. His opinion was that your chance of winning was zero if you didn't have a ticket and just slightly above zero if you did have a ticket. But that the odds of winning were still just slightly above zero if you bought two or ten or a hundred tickets, so you should stick with just buying one.I saw an article once that analyzed it mathematically and came to that same conclusion. But you can argue it either way.

If the odds of winning back the $ you paid for the ticket are 1:32 and you buy ten tickets, or you play the same numbers for ten drawings, your chance of winning something is 10 times greater (10:32 vs 1:32) But if you're going for the big money and the odds of that are 1:2,000,000 you're chance of winning only improves a little (10:2,000,000 vs 1:2,000,000) So it depends on what your goal and your perspective is.

The way I look at it, if you're going for the big money, the first ball/number drawn that doesn't match your ticket means you've lost. So I'm always hoping for the big money, but I'm happy if I win back what I paid for the ticket.

[jp1]

Years ago I routinely bought one ticket per drawing because I would go with a friend who bought tickets. They piled up in my desk drawer and when I’d been doing this almost a year I took them all to check them before the time to collect passed. I got roughly 50% of what I’d spent back. That was when I stopped. I still will buy one occasionally when the jackpot is big because as the my lotto ads say ‘all you need is a dollar and a dream’ and I’ve got both.

[ToomuchStuff]

Quite the contrary. For most scratchoffs the odds against you winning back the price of your ticket are 3 or 4 to 1. IOW over time you'll probably lose 75% of your money. Of course the odds of you winning more than you paid for the scratchoff are worse than that, but still much better than the odds of finding a winning scratchoff laying on the ground.

The odds of winning back the price of a lottery ticket are usually much worse than the scratchoff odds, but the top prizes are much bigger, and the odds of winning back at least the price of the ticket are still better than your chances of finding a winner on the ground. :laff:

I wasn't even thinking of scratchoffs. Those in my experience, are bought by the people who want to stand, blocking the counter and scratch them off, while making the line behind them, wait, or as gag/junk gifts, or worse (the spoof ones, given to someone who is having major legal fee's while trying to save their home).
I am thinking the Powerball/Megamillions.

[GeorgeParker]

I just bought my yearly lottery ticket. Ten drawings for $1 each with the same numbers each time. So for each of the next ten weeks I have the possibility of winning $200,000 or at least winning my $10 back. ;)Final Result: I won $7, which means I actually lost $3.