Originally Posted by spoonitnow

some dickhead was giving me some shit about the north carolina lottery and how poker was "just as much gambling as the lottery" or some stupid shit so i was like ok let's play a game and he's like ok what

i said let's flip a coin. if it's heads, i don't give you shit and if it's tails you give me $100

he's like wtf

then i explained that game has better EV than any of the nc lottery games
which can actually mathematically proven ... I know you do know that

i'm bored

edit: but i really like my avatar
actually was a lil afraid that you may not

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

Sigh, if poker was more taxable the government wouldnt have any problems with us playing anywhere online at anytime. Since they cannot profit enough off of us they want to shut it down, plain and simple. Like you said, the lottery is much more of a gamble, but it pays for education, highway construction, government, etc...

Originally Posted by Jishu

I think this is what the debate boils down to; people who think lotteries are stupid are taking the term EV way too literally. Expected value is not the same as realized value. People play lotteries because, for a couple bucks a week, they get a legit shot at winning a shitload of cash. Everyone knows that you are supposed to lose. However, some people win. And you just hope that you get to be one of those people.

Ill throw in an example from my life. My mom had a couple miscarriages before having me. When I was born, I was extremely premature. 1 pound, 10 ounces; born nearly 3 months premature (6 months approx). Remember that this was back in '89, so today the survival rate is probably much higher. Anyways the doctors told my mom, based upon their knowledge and her history; to her face "your child will probably die". Exact words. After a successful birth, there was concern about my physical and mental development. I was incubated for 3.5 months. My mom held me for a few minutes before I was put into the incubator.

^^ lost train of thought. damn. didnt want to delete my story because it took time to write.

but yeah. for the lottery, a very marginal amount of money for the chance to strike it rich; theres no wonder why so many people play.

Originally Posted by Ultimate George

Poker will be more taxable in the future here in the United States. Within the next two or three years I'm thinking we'll see Harrahs.com, wynn.com, etc as poker rooms.

It wasn't a matter of "ohh poker is bad we shouldn't allow it." Instead the government realized "holy shit these people are sending money through rake to places not in the United States, we need to stop it so we can figure out how to keep that money in-house in the future."

Originally Posted by biondino

1$ a week, 4$ a month, 56$ a year

Woah, did they change the length of the year without telling me? What's the new month called?

Originally Posted by Trainer_jyms

The biggest problem with lotteries are not with the people that can afford $3 or $4 a week or play the "Go big or go home" lotteries, it's the low income or even government funded incomes that are spending a much greater percentage of their finances on tickets, scratch and wins and bingo's. If your on assistance or gov. pension you are spending far more money than you can reasonable afford on tickets. I would hazard a guess, that they spend more money than you or I do on a per month basis, I wouldn't even want to guess how much of a percentage of their money is spent on them. I can assure you, stand outside any corner store and watch who is buying the tickets. It's not the guy in the suit pulling up in the new SUV, to get a paper and a rockstar, it's the old lady with the shopping cart that lives in the dingy apoartment complex around the back.

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

I don't need the lottery to give me something to dream about, 'cos I have plenty of material for daydreaming.

But while I don't participate, I wouldn't think of someone as stupid if they played. I mean, going to the movies is -EV, and playing Dance Revolution is majorly -EV... as long as the utility you derive is greater than the EV expended, then you're not being stupid. You are in fact being very rational. Simply that lottery tickets "cost" you less than the purchase price, whereas a movie ticket costs it's price.

Heck, I think scratch tickets are fun. If I walk past a newsagent and decide to purchase one for $2 then it only actually "costs" me $1, and I get more happyness out of that $1 as I could with an alternate expenditure of $1 (like buying an unhealthy candy bar and consuming it), I don't see a problem.

In response to TJ, if a person does not derive more pleasure from participating in lottery than the -EV cost, then they are acting irrationally. Which is a nice way of saying "stupid". If they choose to be stupid with their money, more power to them. They certainly don't get my sympathies

Originally Posted by boost

the lottery has its merits. If you have any skill at managing money, you can live forever on even a smaller jackpot. Will you really ever miss 1$ a week, 4$ a month, 56$ a year, I mean really? Also as (I think) bode touched on, there is entertainment value. If you daydream about your winnings for 5 minutes, this is a way better entertainment value than buying cd, or going out to see a movie.

Originally Posted by TylerK

economic utility is important

Originally Posted by Triptanes

THE LOTTERY = TAX ON STUPIDITY