Do You Think That Lotteries Are Draining Money From Addicted Lottery Players Everyday?

SPENDING THE FOLLOWING AMOUNTS EACH DAY OF THE WEEK=

$1=$365 A YEAR

$5=$1,820 A YEAR

$10=$3,640 A YEAR

SAVING THE FOLLOWING AMOUNTS MONTHLY FOR 5 YEARS=

$100=$6,000 IN 5 YEARS

$150=$9,000 IN 5 YEARS

$200=$12,000 IN 5 YEARS

no.

You buy zero tickets, you get zero losses. Buying more than 1 lottery ticket does not make any economic sense.

You buy zero tickets, you get zero wins.  As for the rest of it, that's one of the timeless debates here on LP.

My budget is $26 a week, doesn't bother me... play what you can afford and not a penny more.  No concerned one bit about the cash, I spend alot more on my vacant rental that I can't sell.

Why stop at being thrifty on lottery tickets? You buy zero rolls of toilet paper, you might get your hands a little messy, but your saving a few dollars

every week. Buy zero amount on cable, Internet, and phone service......and save thousands per year! 

Put all these big savings into a high interest CD/Money Market account and earn thousands more on interest.......then live happily ever after!!! 

Not playing  = 0
Playing and winning = win
Playing and loosing = loss

Playing = time and energy consumption
Bulking = can only be done by people with a lot of money, or you are in debts
...

It isn't murder, smoke or whisky, ice cream, coke or beer, so you can do it.

Two years ago I stopped using my cellphone. I saved 12M*2Y*(12 to 15€).

Excellent Surge, Congratulations!!! Now your getting THRIFTY!!! 

A good question, Thrifty!  Thanks for posting.  For me, over a dollar a day is too much.  Others, who may be very wealthy by U.S. standards, could spend thousands per day. . . if they wanted to, that is.  However, at that rate perhaps they would not be "wealthy" very long.  Lots of ways to look at the question.

Typical 6/49 game odds of having winning numbers among any 6 versus any 12 numbers played, number of tickets covering the 12 beyond 2 optional.

6 of 6 = 1 in 13,983,816.00 vs 1 in 15,134.00

5 of 6 = 1 in 54,200.84 vs 1 in 477.20

4 of 6 = 1 in 1,032.40 vs 1 in 42.42

3 of 6 = 1 in 56.66 vs 1 in 8.18

BobP

I've never had a cellphone, I don't smoke and I have a TV antenna on my roof and my neighbors who have and do those things along with having cable or a TV disk wonder how I can afford a couple of lottery tickets every week.  Go figure.

For $364 a year, a PB player can get 182 chances to win $1 million, $40 million, or more. And with 104 drawings a year that's 104 dreams of being out of dept, buying that dream house or car, retiring, and/or paying for all of children or grand children's educations. Seriously, can saving $365 in a year in a bank account for even 40 years accomplish any of those dreams?

Yeah, we all know the odds but that's a very reasonable price for the dreams especially when probably nobody dreams about getting something only costing $365.

I wouldn't call a $10 a day player an addict if they could afford the bets because I can logically assume while they might not break even each year, they are probably winning enough back to continue the play. How other people legally spend their money is none of yours or my business.

"Do You Think That Lotteries Are Draining Money From Addicted Lottery Players Everyday?"

I don't know where you buy your tickets, but I bought tickets in many states and never once did a clerk point an AK at me and demand I buy a lottery ticket(s). Lotteries are a legal form of optional gambling where the players decide when and how much to bet. Cable and dish TV cost more than $1 a day; are those people draining money from watchers who are addicted to the Food Channel?

"$200=$12,000 IN 5 YEARS"

The last time I noticed, a pack of smokes cost over $4 so a pack a day smoker could save $7300 in 5 years with zero chance of recouping any of that money. My current $6 a day ($182 a month) pick-4 "habit" could net me over $12,000 tonight. Should I be "wise" and put my lottery spendings (which I can easily afford) in the bank and wait five years or should I continue to gamble and maybe win over $12,000 several times?

Your assumption of saving $12,000 instead of spending $12,000 on lottery tickets in five years is based on never winning a thing. After 6 months or one year, even a novice player will probably reevaluate their play and move on to another strategy or game that will give them a return.

If the lottery is draining your money, you have nobody to blame but yourself and how you legally spend or save your money is your business.

The last time I checked, playing the lottery is a choice so none of us have to justify having the money to play lottery games. If someone believes the lottery is draining their money, they have the choice to quit playing.

Should lottery winners feel badly about lottery losers that had the exact same chance of winning?

Should the Olympics throw out the times and the efforts of the winners and give every participant a gold metal?

I think the title is misleading.  All people who play everyday are not addicted, however, I do believe playing the lottery for some folks is more like an act of desperation.  I have seen folks play up their bill money trying to get a hit so that they can have more money.  When the hit does not materialize, then they are stuck..lend me, give me, can you spare type scenario.