Help me understand the Lottery

[CathyA]

I wasn't sure where to put this.
I'm having trouble understanding how this works (and WHY it even exists).
So someone just won around 384 million? I guess 2 people won and they'll have to split it.
Is all this money from the sale of lotto tickets?
It just seems crazy to me that this goes on, when there is such a need for money in so many other areas..........
And that we have to pay taxes so we can pay millions/billions of dollars to countries we don't even like.........yet people are winning this amount of money???
I guess its all part of the circus.......
I can only shake my head. :(

[shadowmoss]

For $2-$10 I get to play games in my mind of what I would do if I won. And I have a pretty equal chance of winning as anyone else. It could happen. (ok, probably won't, and I didn't play this time 'cause I'm outside the US at the moment). My Dad would go through the motions every week of figuring how much he would get, and making decisions on how he would split it out among us all, what he would buy, etc. They are selling a dream, and the cost is cheap enough. The office pools are kinda neat as it shows how co-workers are with money, and you learn who you can trust and who you can't. The lady who would buy our tickets always made copies of the tickets prior to the drawing and everyone knew what the numbers were and that the tickets had actually been bought. It is a thought exercise and a fun game.

[bunnys]

There is no understanding it, Cathy.

Just think two words and this might help.

Greed.
Fantasy.

Two very real, very common and very reasonable human motivators. But logical they ain't.

[SteveinMN]

Is all this money from the sale of lotto tickets?
It just seems crazy to me that this goes on, when there is such a need for money in so many other areas..........
And that we have to pay taxes so we can pay millions/billions of dollars to countries we don't even like.........yet people are winning this amount of money???
All the money is from the sale of lottery tickets. Since Powerball is played in 44 states (well, California will join next year), but there is a relatively low number of winners, a lot of money can amass from week to week.

You ask an interesting question, but I think the answer is that the lottery is a voluntary activity while taxes are not. It's also a discrete amount of money paid for your participation, and there is a linkage: if you don't pay for lottery tickets; you can't win, but you can be taxed for schools and social benefits you'll never use. If all you want to pay for lottery tickets is $2 when the jackpot is half-a-billion dollars, it's your option. Taxes are everpresent and the amount is much less under one's control. And, yeah, there's the "greed" issue, though it's exactly the same "greed" that gets us to buy raffle tickets for fundraisers, so I'm not sure the motive there is so dark.

[iris lily]

The state takes a giant cut of the winnings, so it's good for the taxman.

[rosarugosa]

Sat night I went to the store with a friend who really wanted to buy tickets. I don't usually play, but I went along for the ride and spent a few bucks on tickets. The woman selling the tickets said that the last time there was a big jackpot, the lottery was taking in something like $70,000 per minute!

[Glo]

I love the lottery. I don't play all that often; not interested in a couple mil so I only play the huge ones. (LOL). I enjoy fantasizing how'll I'll spend the money. There's no greed involved because everyone I know would benefit in some way if I win. So, that's why I spend 10 bucks every few months!

[Tiam]

I wasn't sure where to put this.
I'm having trouble understanding how this works (and WHY it even exists).
So someone just won around 384 million? I guess 2 people won and they'll have to split it.
Is all this money from the sale of lotto tickets?
It just seems crazy to me that this goes on, when there is such a need for money in so many other areas..........
And that we have to pay taxes so we can pay millions/billions of dollars to countries we don't even like.........yet people are winning this amount of money???
I guess its all part of the circus.......
I can only shake my head. :(


Why is it a puzzle for people to choose to gamble? Who gets to say it's too much? Aren't the Lotteries taxed? I heard that the of the 138 million or so won, the winner walks away with about half. The rest is taxed. Pure government profit.

[rodeosweetheart]

Dave Ramsey calls them a tax on the poor, and I think he is right.

Although I have known a couple of lottery winners--I used to live in a very rich suburb of Chicago, and they would move there after winning.

One of them had a child die after he won the lottery and he blamed our town, saying that our town brought him "bad luck." I thought how ridiculous to believe that luck had anything to do with a town and then I realized that was congruent with his belief system, as he had won the lottery.

I'm sure some people live great lives after winning the lottery but the few I met seemed to be more in line with the research that it is emotionally difficult for people, and many lose the money or make poor decisions afterwards.

Anyway, I wonder lately if when I make stock purchases, I am just participating in a different form of govt. lottery. . .

[early morning]

I see the lottery as a positive form of government intervention. Prior to gov't getting involved, lotteries were illegal in most places, excepting for charity, and the huge amounts of money gambling engendered went to organized crime - much as what happened during Prohibition. It created many more social problems then than it does now, from all I have learned. It's totally voluntary and provides revenue for government coffers. The shops that sell winning tickets also get a payout from the lottery for that sale. People are gonna do what isn't necessarily good for them. I'd rather the government run it than a criminal syndicate (although I know some people don't differentiate, lol)

[creaker]

I'll buy a lottery ticket as "permission" to think about winning. I don't understand the folks I see buying $20-$50 at a time.

I find it kind of ironic and sad how much state funding is dependent on gambling, drinking and smoking.

[early morning]

I find it kind of ironic and sad how much state funding is dependent on gambling, drinking and smoking. And that will increase, as drug laws are inevitably loosened...sad, but I don't think it's sadder than having huge corporations, legal or otherwise, take that money.

[peggy]

I'll buy a lottery ticket as "permission" to think about winning. I don't understand the folks I see buying $20-$50 at a time.

I find it kind of ironic and sad how much state funding is dependent on gambling, drinking and smoking.

All we need are drugs, sex, and rock and roll! Yeah ba-by! Par-ty! Par-ty! Par-...oh, wait..you mean this is a BAD thing?:moon:

[sweetana3]

They are selling an impossible dream to millions who will never ever see any return. It is all based on hope and dreams and smoke.

So sad.

[peggy]

They are selling an impossible dream to millions who will never ever see any return. It is all based on hope and dreams and smoke.

So sad.

Kind of like college...

[CathyA]

Kind of like college...

Very true Peggy!

[CathyA]

I'm just thinking about all the good that could be done if this money was used elsewhere.......Of course that would take away the hopes of winning big yourself, but it would, hopefully, make it a better life for many people overall.

[Gregg]

Kind of like college...

+1 peggy!!! (but that's a different thread...)

[jp1]

I don't understand the people who buy multiple tickets. I've played lotto off and on for most of my adult life, mostly through pools at work, but have always only bought one ticket. The way I look at it, the odds of winning are zero if I don't have a ticket. If I do have a ticket the odds are slightly better than zero, but not zero. If I buy two or a hundred or a thousand tickets my odds are still only slightly better than zero, so why bother spending the extra money.

[puglogic]

I'm just thinking about all the good that could be done if this money was used elsewhere.......Of course that would take away the hopes of winning big yourself, but it would, hopefully, make it a better life for many people overall.

Some good does come out of our state lottery. It looks like we will be receiving a large grant from this organization (created by the voters) that will allow us to build our community garden program: http://www.goco.org/

People have always and WILL always gamble. It's not something I like, but if some good comes of it, and if reasonable steps are put in place to keep it from becoming a cancer on families and communities, I don't spend much time thinking about it.

Now our federal defense budget, or tax breaks for oil companies or toxic chemical giants, yeah, that I get a little bristly about.

[Gingerella72]

Nebraska lottery money goes towards helpful programs, too:

"Amendment 4 passed by Nebraska voters in November of 2004 established the following distribution formula: Education as directed by the Legislature (44.5 percent) - currently divided between the Education Innovation Fund and Nebraska Opportunity Grant Fund; Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund (44.5 percent); Nebraska State Fair (10 percent); and the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund (1 percent, plus the first $500,000 in fund proceeds each fiscal year)." http://www.nelottery.com/about.xsp


And people DO win, there are several smaller jackpots in addition to the huge one. For those without a gambling problem, and a little bit of disposable income, it's a fun way to win a chance at big money. I see nothing wrong with spending $2 on a ticket once in a while, and that money is used to benefit my state.

[Tiam]

The only real legitimate complaint for the lottery that I can think of would be it's contribution to gambling in general for those who have trouble controlling that vice.

[Merski]

I like the statement "the house ALWAYS wins" works for gambling & insurance and banks