Playing the Lotto

[TheGreatSatan]

How much have you spent and how much have you won?

The most I ever won was $100 on a scratcher

[SXRguyinMA]

I've spent $0 and won $0 :D

[diluzio91]

i've spent 0 and won 50. lol... got a scratcher as a bday gift, never really cared for the lotto stuff

[farlo]

ive played maybe $50 in the couple years arkansas has had a lottery, returned about $30.

i only play if im feeling lucky.

[AmEv]

Well, as I'm not 18, I can't.
Neither do I plan on it.

[blueonblack]

lot·ter·y  [lot-uh-ree]

–noun, plural -ter·ies.

1. A tax on people who are really bad at math.

[msmrx57]

When I do have any extra $$$ I can always find something better to spend it on.

[farlo]

I only usually buy tickets when I'm getting beer.

[x88x]

I've spent $0 and won $0 :D
:stupid:

The only gambling I've ever done was some black-jack machines in Vegas, probably less than $30 total...never won anything that didn't go away shortly thereafter. :P

[msmrx57]

I did spend like $5 on nickel slot when I was in Vegas in '97. But other than that nope, no gambling.

[PauL]

Spent $1 for a little scratch ticket in a restaurant back in 2000 and won $300. Was too young to claim the money at the time so my parents had to do it. Funny thing is I gave my brother the dollar for the ticket, but since he actually scratched it, he claimed he won the money. Obviously my brother and I argued about it (we were only 9) and eventually we decided to put the money towards a PS2 when they came out (had talked about getting one for awhile but had no money until now since we had to pay for it). Good times. Good times.

[SXRguyinMA]

Taxachusettes takes enough of my money without asking, so I don't plan to willingly give them any more :D

[Konrad]

Yep, never lost a single dollar on lotteries.

I've spent some in casinos (fewer times than I could count on one hand) ... my view is that it's spent, not gambled, to buy some entertainment, ie: not seriously expecting to walk away with a profit. Not a bad deal really, since you always get "free" drinks in a lively party atmosphere anyhow.

[x88x]

Not a bad deal really, since you always get "free" drinks in a lively party atmosphere anyhow.

Heheh, yup. A friend of mine used to just hang out in casinos, playing a hand of video poker every now and then, just for the free top-shelf booze. :P

[BuzzKillington]

Spent ~$500 and "won" maybe $200.

Casinos are a different story, ~$400 and won ~$1000.

[SgtM]

I'll play $1 when the mega millions gets above 100 mill. It just went up to 304 million tonight. I'll be playing on Friday for the next drawing.

[Konrad]

In a way that doesn't make any sense ... $3M or $300M is just as good. Playing for the bigger jackpot means greater competition.

[TheGreatSatan]

Only for splitting it. The odds of winning remain the same

[blueonblack]

I'll play $1 when the mega millions gets above 100 mill. It just went up to 304 million tonight. I'll be playing on Friday for the next drawing.

I don't think I will ever understand this. Your odds of winning are the same regardless of the amount of the jackpot. 50 million's not enough to play, but 100 million is?? I see it all the time, I just don't get it.

[NightrainSrt4]

It's not about the odds. It's about limiting yourself. If you only play when it goes above x dollars, then you can only play so often, as it only goes above that value so often. Otherwise you would be pumping money into it all the time. I suppose people could play on x time interval, but then your odds are the same anyway, so if you win, you might as well have played on a big one.

I don't play at all. This was simply my rationalization of watching others and their explanations.

[blueonblack]

It's not about the odds. It's about limiting yourself.

Ok, that makes sense I suppose. Thanks!

[SgtM]

It's not about the odds. It's about limiting yourself. If you only play when it goes above x dollars, then you can only play so often, as it only goes above that value so often. Otherwise you would be pumping money into it all the time. I suppose people could play on x time interval, but then your odds are the same anyway, so if you win, you might as well have played on a big one.

I don't play at all. This was simply my rationalization of watching others and their explanations.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me. If I win we're having one hell of a modding party!

[farlo]

was feeling lucky today, bought 4 2dollar tickets, won 10$ on one and $50 on another.

[billygoat333]

I couldn't tell you how much I've spent, I would say less than 50 bucks on dollar tickets here and there. won probably about 50 bucks too. I usually win at least my dollar back every other one. As for gambling, the only gambling I do is poker, and usually only 10 bucks here and there. I did play a $30 charity tournament once, and lost horribly. but I got a lot of free swag for entering from one of the sponsors, including an aluminum water bottle, so I consider it $30 well spent. :)

oh, going to Vegas in April, going to take about 100-150 bucks for poker. :D (probably won't play it all, I hate giving away money to rich people as it is.)