Sorry to hear man. We live, and we learn. I'm trying to follow my own advice as well haha. I know how tempting it can be on payday. I've limited my lotto play to two times a month. In the past couple of months, I've broken the rules I've set for myself mostly because there's this $10 holiday ticket still lurking around here in Florida with 2/2 jackpot prices remaining and less than 10% of the supply in circulation. The probability of hitting it is extremely low, but the elusive "what if?" can make throwing down a few hundred bucks seem rational at the time, although it clearly isn't. Many of us have to find a way to control this hobby so that it remains a fiscally sustainable one. I'm limiting myself to $100 a month now on lotto purchases, and diversifying the types I play. People who can play 1-2 $5 tickets at a time, or buy only a couple tickets and can walk away can actually enjoy the satisfaction of hitting a nice win here and there. When you play compulsively, it almost always ends up with you feeling like <snip>. The human mind remembers losses, but these games of chance where the odds are extremely stacked against us doesn't, and we sometimes listen to the fallacy "I'm overdue" and continue to pour money down the drain.
I'm down for the year, but I've hit $1k on both a $25 ticket and $10 ticket in 2016. I've also met someone who won $10k on a $5 ticket. Big wins can come anywhere, and what I've learned is that forcing them almost never ends well. Even if you hit $100-$500, or a $1k prize, you're still likely to be "down" if you're a frequent lotto player. At least with $5 tickets, if you buy 10 tickets it is harder to burn your entire wallet. I've seen 7-8 back to back losers on $25 tickets here in Florida, with a $25 breakeven followed by more losers. (Which should be considered criminal, imo)
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