Lottery tickets purchase=mental illness?

I prefer "Tax on the mathematically challenged."

But there's a whole 'nother level to this: the people who buy software to predict what numbers will come up; which numbers are "hot" and which are "due."
 
roadtoharvard said:
I don't know what says more: The fact that they spend $30 a week on lottery tickets or the fact that someone was bothered enough by this to post it on a message board asking for "help" to get them to stop.
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Bravo, you're better than me, take a bow.
 
My frugal retired relatives have always lived below their means (and continue to live waaaay below them in retirement). They would never spend $10 on a ticket to see a first run movie and they know every early-bird dinner special in their state. If you saw them in a convenience store you would be looking at the millionaire next door but you might easily mistake them for someone using up their food budget instead of a retired bank president. They do play the lottery every week, the same numbers year after year, and horror of horrors, even indulge in the occasional scratchoff! I really don't see how they are hurting anyone doing something they enjoy. (They also like the nickel slots and have no problem walking away from a hot machine after it coughs up $15 or so.)
 
Texas Proud said:
To the OP...

I am sure that YOU do things that upset the inlaws / relatives... and they probably talk about it behind your back..

I don't drink coffee, and can not for the life of me see someone buying $20 to $50 a week on drinking coffee as rational... yes, he gets his 'fix', but it seems your inlaws are getting their 'fix' also... it is harmless fun if they can afford it... just put it under entertainment....
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If anyone thinks that nobody talks about them behind their back, they're kidding themself. My inlaws can spend all they want on lottery tickets. How they get their fix is not a concern. In using your example, what if the family member buying all of that coffee managed to steer 3 or 4 of your conversations every day toward the topic of coffee? I expect that it might wear on you a bit.
 
Grizz said:
If anyone thinks that nobody talks about them behind their back, they're kidding themself. My inlaws can spend all they want on lottery tickets. How they get their fix is not a concern. In using your example, what if the family member buying all of that coffee managed to steer 3 or 4 of your conversations every day toward the topic of coffee? I expect that it might wear on you a bit.
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I would just ignore them and go watch the game or do something else... I think they would get the message after awhile...

Also, I would not be answering them, so the conversation would dry up unless it was between themselves...and again, I am watching the game by then..
 
lets-retire said:
If I had the money to bet the trends absolutely.
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Trends in random numbers?? Are you on crack?

This falls right into the bucket with the people who see "hot" poker tables, "hot" shooters in craps, etc. It is all random, but people love to pretend that there is sense to it all.

Random = random = random. There are no trends on the roulette table. If it has hit 10 red in a row, the chances are still 50% red, 50% black for the next number. That's it.

Now if you want to talk about the stock market, there are plenty of arguments for & against trends. At least there you're not dealing with randomness, you're dealing with things affected by humans.

But sorry, seeing trends in random numbers is not sane behavior.
 
old woman said:
You would be surprised how bad I am when it comes to picking stocks and dreaming and talking about winning. I have about 30 different mutual funds I picked out 14 in 2 days once just divided the money between all the ones I was considering and couldn't decide.
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Just a slight quibble about your strangeness :)

If I was to buy large numbers of speculative investments (which I do understand some of the appeal), I would not aim for mutual funds. If you own 30 different mutual funds, you may as well just put all your money into the "complete stock market index", and leave it there.

In my opinion, if you're going to speculate (also known as gamble), you may as well aim for individual stocks. I do have a few individual stocks (merely for entertainment purposes), and it is fun to watch for them in the news reports. Great fun to have an up day, and I try to forget the down days :)
 
lets-retire said:
Maybe not sane, but for me it has been very profitable.
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I could say I see trends in flipping coins, because I just got 10 in a row. No one can refute that I see trends, other than the fact that I'm simply wrong.

You may or may not think you are seeing trends, and you may or may not have a profit. In reality there are no trends, and over an infinite amount of time, you would lose if you continued to gamble at a losing game.
 
lets-retire said:
Maybe not sane, but for me it has been very profitable.
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You sound like my BIL... just because you got lucky does not make it 'smart' or 'right'.... but he seems to think so and so (it appears) do you..

funny thing is if you press him, he agrees it is random, but then will talk about being 'hot' etc.... just does not get it.
 
HobbyDave said:
Trends in random numbers?? Are you on crack?

This falls right into the bucket with the people who see "hot" poker tables, "hot" shooters in craps, etc. It is all random, but people love to pretend that there is sense to it all.

Random = random = random. There are no trends on the roulette table. If it has hit 10 red in a row, the chances are still 50% red, 50% black for the next number. That's it.

Now if you want to talk about the stock market, there are plenty of arguments for & against trends. At least there you're not dealing with randomness, you're dealing with things affected by humans.

But sorry, seeing trends in random numbers is not sane behavior.
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You are failing to consider one term in your otherwise perfect equation and that is "luck". If he is a lucky guy, wouldn't that change the probability? Some people believe in gods and you can't use logic to disuade them. >:D
 
I have never purchased a lottery ticket.

A friend of mine and his girlfriend won a "$44 million" jackpot in the Virginia lottery a few months ago (I put it in quotes because the real PV is closer to 14MM).

I tell my other friends that they should never, ever buy a lottery ticket now. What are the chances that I would personally know two jackpot winners?
 
Maurice said:
I have never purchased a lottery ticket.

A friend of mine and his girlfriend won a "$44 million" jackpot in the Virginia lottery a few months ago (I put it in quotes because the real PV is closer to 14MM).

I tell my other friends that they should never, ever buy a lottery ticket now. What are the chances that I would personally know two jackpot winners?
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You don't really believe that your friends winning the jackpot has any effect on the outcome of any future drawing, do you?
 
Of course not - it was meant to be funny.


Like the guy who won't fly because he's afraid terrorist may blow up the plane. Then one day he has to fly so he decides to bring a bomb himself, knowing the odds of 2 people trying to blow up the same plane are infinitesimally small...
 
I'll add - even though I make the comment to be funny, I think I've actually persuaded a couple of people not to buy tickets anymore. Keep in mind they didn't become regular buyers because they were good at probability and statistics.
 
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