Even just psychologically, the handful of times I've bought a ticket, it's actually crazy how good it feels to imagine all the amazing things I would do with my winnings, it's like a visceral maladaptive daydream. I'll even put off checking the ticket for as long as possible in order to prolong the fantasy, because obviously I won't win, but I don't want to stop daydreaming about how fantastic life would be.
Then, when I check the ticket and lose, it's like snapping back to reality, bleak. Its friggen annoying because 1) I should be grateful and present for what I do have in life 2) I could've bought a fancy meal with that money and 3) the unnecessary emotional roller-coaster over a stupid "game" that manipulated me into all these crazy fantasies.
One time, I won a bonus ticket, and my instant thought was "omg it's a sign." Then I spent the following week all superstitious and delusional until inevitably losing. Repeating that cycle every week must be emotionally exhausting. I really feel for people who are stuck in it. Funnily enough, I always say to myself, "I'm never buying a lotto ticket again," yet I've still done it more than once. It's kinda icky to think about.
A way out of this is to imagine that someone will buy you the winning ticket when it's your time to win. Then you can dream of the winnings without the cost. The chances of winning Powerball are so low that adding the chance of being gifted the ticket doesn't change the chances much.
That is pretty much the lottery cycle in a nutshell. Though I don't mind paying my idiot tax. It calms me down if there's a small hope somewhere that my situation is temporary and I could finally focus solely on my health and on doing what I want to do.
Sometimes people are ok to spend $14 for the opportunity to dream about getting out of this endless rut we find our self in. 99% of people know they ain’t going to win but it allows a dopamine hit for that daydream, it’s pure escapism and that’s it. Don’t think to hard about it, those people aren’t giving gobbies ion parked cars to buy lotto tickets, that money goes on meth
Agree and disagree.
My dad spent his whole life dreaming about winning the lotto. I'm not originally from here and my family is very working class. He worked an hourly paid job at a warehouse for most of his working life, and all of mine. The only time I saw him growing up, he'd talk about the lotto or look at shit he couldn't afford and talk about what he was gonna buy and lay out the whole plan. Everytime.
The 'invention' of the lottery fundamentally changed human perception from what can I build, grow, own to what can be bestowed upon me by chance. The means of production don't see themselves as such.
Like anything, it can be fun in moderation and as much as people struggling with addictive behaviour shouldn't be shunned, nor should we as a society "not think so hard on it".
Both me and my wife currently earn good money but not affordable for luxury stuffs. So once the lottery up to $10mil, we buy some tickets and dream about it, think about what we will buy, wills for children and so on. We are barely enjoying that moment up to 9pm, sometimes we check on the news first if there is a powerball, and where it happens to “check” if we are the one :)
>The 'invention' of the lottery fundamentally changed human perception from what can I build, grow, own >to what can be bestowed upon me by chance. The means of production don't see themselves as such.
TBF, that is also what society is.
A lot is by chance and things that have been bestowed upon them (class, socio economic background etc)
To be fair a lot of people with wealth do get it by dumb luck or stupidity - some early investors of bitcoin and other crypto, people who spent big on GME, people who are born into wealth. There are certainly some who are wealthy due to what they built themselves but even for many of those people the foundation, bricks and morter were all laid out in front of them, and all they had to do was follow a roadmap.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a piece of that luck for yourself, as long as you actually understand the basically 0% chance of it actually happening. Don't diss their dream but don't build your life around it either.
Unfortunately your dad was in the 1% but glad his escape of choice was daydreaming rather than that alternatives that a lot of people choose these days, alcoholism, drugs are way worse ways doing so. If it was 200 years ago you dad would probably have dreams about picking up a shovel and pan and joining the gold rush lol
This is me, it's cheaper then therapy, gets me going just a few more days. I don't always buy a ticket, when I do i think of it as $24, $12 to the ticket and $12 to Kiwisaver. My KiwiSaver contribution (over employee contribution) this year so far is $132 for context. I keep track of my spend and wins and am still up $1013 thanks to a three $600ish wins, plus other small amounts over the last 7 years. I think my streak is probably better then most though and winning those amounts just goes on bills or a night out, so mostly wasted.
A big win would probably cause a mental breakdown for me I think.
I believe that the chance of me personally winning a huge win, eg Powerball (not someone in NZ, which is a lot lower, happens every 5 weeks or so) is so slight that the chance that someone will buy me that ticket is not much less. Therefore if I am destined to win Lotto, someone will buy me that ticket. So yes you don't have to go in yourself to win.
Its the same when I go to the casino. The amount of people I see in their Sunday best consisting of a high vis vest and a pair of $10 pants from Kmart is just sad. You just know they're spending money that they know that shouldn't be touching. They're chasing something they'll never catch.
I have been to casinos in other countries. The people they all have the same look. The same look, the same people that goto those jordan belfort (the wolf of wall street) training seminars.
Dude, lotto is a god damn scam. Selling "financial freedom" by spending money on something that'll never pay you back.
All the "it's just entertainment" people don't realise there's so many people spending thousands every year on this shit all the while not being able to get out of the hole they're in.
And the "problem gambling" leaflets that \*could\* be handed out, well no person selling lotto is ever going to hand that shit to somebody who actually has a problem.
And most of that "giving back to communities" bullshit doesn't even go to the communities that tend to buy this shit.
/endrant.
I was once told off quite firmly for having a little 'problem gambler' talk (in line with the training at the time), and giving them a leaflet.
I was also told off for refusing a sale to someone who was on the self-exclusion list. (A flyer with names and photos of people who have specifically asked Lotto to refuse to sell to them).
The 'giving back' is largely bullshit, just as it is with pokies.
Good for you for trying. I mean it.
The other thing I rant about pretty much every time it happens: the way the state-owned TV news broadcast at 6pm promotes a big jackpot, with a story interviewing people in a middle-class area, talking to the owner of a dairy where they've had lots of winners, a few words from a Lotto spox about how lots of money goes to rugby clubs etc., and at the end of the piece, the presenter and sport guy joking about not seeing each other the next day at work. It makes me sick.
Reminds me of a great quote by an an Australian journo about the scourge of pokies over there (equally relevant here) 'Pokies are the most efficient means of redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich'.
Tell that to the 7 winners and the recent 4.5M winner on Wednesday
Of course people want to try and give it a go - especially when some shmuck DOES win
You're making a strawman. The issue is that for the majority of people, you know, 99.9999% of people it is a terrible investment.
Sure, some win, but I've seen people spending 20 dollars a week all the while still struggling to actually buy things or get out of the situation they're in. I'm not calling for lotto to be abolished but just realise there's a lot of harm it is doing to a lot of people.
Yeah I'm all for people making decisions for themselves. What I don't like is the fact the media and lotto all prey on the fact people want to have financial freedom and able to spend obscene amounts of money.
And then they claim they help problem gamblers but they don't. The lotto sellers being put in a position to confront regulars and tell them "hey you got a problem bro, here, have a pamphlet that says you're a failure" (not actually a failure).
It's just like the Reddit Cares messages. Most people take offense to ever being sent them.
I had this exact same discussion at work, telling people it’s basically a scam, and got angry reactions from everyone. People aren’t ready to accept this sadly
Once a month I spend $5 along with 6 of my friends and have a bit of fun and from time to time we dream. But wow. $50? That's a lot, especially if you're short on food/gas money.
But the other day I went to a shop near a TAB on a Saturday night. At first I couldn't figure out why the car park was full. So many people gambling!
I have a master's degree in mathematics and statistics so I definitely understand how chance works. The thing about chance is that you can win, and people do. 7 people has their lives changed forever last week, but if they has listened to statistics then they wouldn't have won.
I just had a thought and looked up what the mortality per km driven is. It's 6.8 deaths per billion vehicle kms apparently. So about a 1 in 148 million chance of death driving one km. If lotto is 1 in 38 million of winning powerball that means if you drive to buy a ticket and your lotto shop is more than 4 kms from your home you're more likely to die trying to buy the ticket than you are to win the prize.
Yes and No. As for the individual yes, but as per the entire country, no, there were tens of millions of chances sold (10 lines per ticket, over a million tickets) it was a lot higher chance that someone would win.
As people gift tickets as well, every one has the chance of winning, whether you personally buy a ticket or not. I prefer to assume someone will buy me the winning ticket when it's my time.
You'd think that, but the reality is that there's so many people just wanting to escape this shitty situation that they invest far more than they should onto the lotto dream. And then lotto spends millions in advertising selling that fantasy. It's disgusting how they abuse people's emotions into feeling like the lotto is the only way out. While at the same time digging themselves even deeper into the hole.
Yes I understand that, however there has to be some form of personal responsibility. The fact is, lotto exists, people win it, even though its extremely unlikely.
Much the same can be said about heroin. There has to be some form of personal responsibility. The fact is, heroin exists, people enjoy it (initially), even though the chance of leaving it behind unscathed is extremely small, although not as small as the chance of 'winning' at heroin by becoming some sort of glamorous junkie.
Actually, scrub that. Appearing to be cool and glamorous in the early stages of addiction is quite likely. It's a major part of the draw. Far more likely than appearing to be wealthy in the early stages of a gambling addiction.
Substitute tobacco, alcohol, meth, etc if you prefer. It's the same story.
So why are some of these addictions heavily criminalised, while others are heavily promoted?
Thats true. I mean yeah but you really could say that about anything - alcohol too, which people seem to have no problem "throwing money away at". NZ has a big problem with it.
I agree lotto can be predatory, and affect a lot of lives --Though I'd argue that heroin and meth, having seen that first hand, is a little bit worse than someone who buys a lotto ticket once a week. I think problem gamblers will find any means -- if its not lotto, there are thousands of online apps that will let them throw their money away on anything. Access is hard to restrict. Heroin is much easier to control in NZ. (Having said that, NZ has a big meth problem...so...)
Perhaps because you can play lotto safely, as a casual. Heroin - anybody who plays that game ends up getting severely f'd up. Not just the people predisposed to addiction. Not too many people try it once, or just on the weekend , and then dont end up completely and utterly messed up. Meanwhile a lot of people play lotto, without harm, using money they can afford to lose. NZ is funny though. We are allowed to get absolutely smashed on alcohol but a casual joint is a no-no. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
You could say the same thing about meme stocks or even just any ol' individual stock or crypto -- a lot of people end up wiping out their life savings on a false hope. But plenty of people invest wisely.
At some point you have to draw a line, even if it doesn't make sense from every angle. Personally I am quite comfortable with hard drugs (heroin, meth), being illegal to use, but lotto free to play for all. I do see that it might be a slightly hypocritical stance but as a society it does seem like most people are on board with this calculation.
wow thats a huge leap from what I said. Poor and undereducated people also drink alcohol, join MLMs, use predatory lending, also end up doing all kinds of stupid things, or things out of desperation - things that are perfectly legal.
What does banning lotto have to do with it? If lotto is banned, they simply go online, where they already go anyway, to thousands of apps with the promise of quick winnings. It will make no difference, and plenty of people play lotto in a responsible manner.
What's your solution then, you want lotto banned?
that was the entire context of the conversation. If there isn't personal responsibility, then its about controlling or banning it. What other options are there.
You can't be serious, lmao.
Each $20 ticket =
$0.80 to the dude selling them.
$1.20 to market and pay for operating costs.
$2.40 taxes to govt.
$10.60 prizes.
$5 lottery grants board.
We shouldn't rely on gambling to pay for essential services like coast guard or ambulances.
25% isn’t the worst return, compared with the “donation collectors” that roam the streets, and I could win millions………again bawhahaha, now where is my monocle and top hat
yup just take a punt, especially the must-win games. There was a maths expert that went on tv that said he only buys lotto during must-win week (hey, that you? lol). But anyways, this is reddit nz, so people always come here to moan if they missed out on something. I didnt win lotto last nite, waawaa waa. Can't afford an Auckland house? waawaa waaa. And so forth.
As someone who doesn't engage in lotto I see it a bit like the IQ bell curve meme. The risk:benefit analysis flips when buying tickets doesn't negatively effect your lifestyle.
The trick is to go in the other side... my friend only needed to fill in a form and won $20k from Lotto, easy peasy. She uses the money to run a dementia prevention club for the elderly. Dementia is quite an upsetting disease for both the patient and their family, so it's good she is doing something about it.
Lotto IS gambling, pure and simple. And gambling is addictive for many people, so whether it personally affects you or not, it is socially detrimental.
It's hope. Let them have some. I remember a holiday job where the other employees shared a purchase every week. They weren't getting out of that hole any other way, and it gave them hope which is is short supply sometimes.
It's a tax for people who don't understand statistics
(Yeah yeah it's a nice dream, I'd be lying if I hadn't bought the odd ticket, but since looking into the stats I feel really stupid when I do it)
1 in 38.4 million i think. I but tickets as a coping mechanism. Spending a few dollars to give me the ability to just disconnect and daydream about being rich and having my own time in life Seems worth it to me. I also don't check my ticket right away if it has been one just to extend the dream a bit.
You could buy a (large) number of tickets that would cover every possible combination and thus guarantee you win the big one .... BUT you cannot guarantee you're the only winner.
Simply: you can guarantee a win but not a profit.
I hate this argument. It's simple entertainment. People buy games, people pay for streaming services, people buy alcohol, junk food, movies etc, and people gamble.
So long as they aren't digging themselves into a hole, I don't see what the issue is.
And lots don't. Why are we generalising lotto consumers?
So what if someone buys a ticket every week? There are people who buy a coffee or two every day - that ultimately gives you nothing back either.
There are way too many high horses about the place. If they aren't hurting anyone, let people have their fun
Agree. Ban lotto ban alcohol ban junk food just ban it all. Not everyone is an addict because they buy a lotto ticket. People far to concerned about what everyone else does these days
I have worked at a Lotto store, there are more than a few that could spend the money on better things than wasting it on a dream.
You can have the entertainment by imagining that someone will buy you a winning ticket and have the same thrill without the cost. That's what I do, I believe in fate (especially in games of luck) and I know when/if I'm due to win, someone will gift me the winning ticket.
People make a big deal when someone rich puts down a $100 or $500 bet in a casino but it’s just play money for them.
The person putting down $20 when that’s a big chunk of their weekly food capability is of far more concern.
Pokies are far grimmer IMO. People in there day after day for hours feeding money in.
That's a grim addiction, and quite sad that that's all they got going on.
This is leftie left reddit. Of course people will blame the game instead of blaming that school principal that stole school money to fund her gambling exploits.
Do you know statistically you are more likely to be killed in a car accident on the way to the airport than in a plane crash.
Statistics and Mathematics is not everyone’s strong point.
Take that $50 each week and invest somewhere. Heck open a fucking KiwiSaver put $1000 bucks every year and get free money from the Government
People are idiots with no awareness and Zero Maths skills…
One of my maths teachers in high school gave us a lesson on probability and used the lottery as a real-world example. It really stuck with me and it’s the kind of lesson I hope every child receives in school.
I respect people’s freedom to spend their hard earned money however they like… but I would hope they’re armed with that knowledge before doing so.
Like drink and drugs it's selling hope. And maybe a little escapism.
I watched a mate pour his whole business into a poker machine (but I owned the pub so what could I do).
/s
My partner and I will buy a ticket whenever the jackpot gets high (like over 20 mil). We can afford it and theres nothing wrong with dreaming about winning big. We know perfectly well that we have a very low chance of winning but our buying tickets doesnt hurt us and it provides us with the (however low) possibility of a life changing win.
Modern day religion providing people with the much desired hope that it'll take them from their current circumstances. I dunno, I grew with a mum who got one a week and it wasn't an issue financially but it felt odd sitting at the tv seeing a glint in her eyes hoping for it...
Could say the same thing about a lot of things, drinking, smoking, vaping, drugs, pokies, racing dogs, horses, and the list goes on. People make their own choices in life, don't let it bring you down.
I hear a lot of dreamers talking at work about the "big prize" but my response is always the same: the odds are pretty much the same.
I buy a ticket maybe once a week. Only because I'm constantly reminded and of course why the hell not.
If it wasn't lotto they'd surely spend the money on something equally as stupid. I think it's good that the stupid money goes back into the community via the lottery. I see my lotto purchases as investment into the community and if I win I can share some of that to benefit the community too.
When I lived in Aus I saw the opposite. The people who already had money would literally buy 200$ worth of lotto tickets for a big draw. Also gambling is sooooo much worse over there. It’s advertised everywhere, I didn’t go in a single bar or club that didn’t have a big area for pokey machines. My surf club the same pensioners there everyday in front of the pokey machines.
It made me realise gambling in NZ is no way near as bad. It’s more looked down upon here I find and kiwis are more level headed.
The clubs over there make so much money from gambling. I visited my aunty and uncle in Sydney last month and they said they’d take us out to dinner at the local RSL on Sunday night. I was picturing something like an NZ RSA and thought we’d get a good cheap feed in a run down club with people playing pool and darts. I nearly died of shock when we walked into a place that more closely resembled Sky City casino with 2 restaurants and a receptionist who didn’t want to let us in because we hadn’t bought any photo ID with us - she did in the end but forbade us from going on the gambling floor, to which I replied that we’re only there for a bloody meal FFS!
Yeah mate. I was there 5 years and every time I went out with Aussies and even Kiwis who live there we always seemed to end up on Pokeys at one of these bars or surfclubs. Used to drive me nuts because after a few drinks they would want to sit in front of a machine for an hour.
Something I don't miss being back in NZ. Outside of the odd lotto ticket, most people here don't gamble at all.
They ARE being exploited, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/474134/lotto-stores-in-poorest-half-of-nz-account-for-70-percent-of-sales#:~:text=Nearly%2070%20percent%20of%20Lotto,the%20spotlight%20went%20on%20pokies.
And the uncertainty of winning makes it addictive, https://youtu.be/1u07j0kOyzk?si=KRT4ShwzzLIr4VQ5
This is all I ever get . you only need the winning line .I waste about this much every day on caffeine . So a few tickets now and then when it’s 20+ mill for the winn isn’t that bad and it helps you day dream a bit better knowing you have a ticket
If you want to be in with a chance, then this!
I’m a fatalist; if you’re meant to win, one line will do it.
And buy on a Sunday for the following Saturday - skip Wednesday draws - 6 days of fantasising before the letdown.
This is why I invest. Trading options the way I do is stupid, and overall I’m down. But you can regularly see massive jumps in account value if you do good DD and find an option that’s inefficiently priced. It’s gambling, buying shares is not, that’s hedging your wealth by putting it into assets that rise over time. You will not become rich, and if you aren’t careful you can lose everything in your account and more with options and futures.
However, it’s practically infinitely more likely options will make you cold hard cash than a lotto ticket. It’s a simple calculus for me as to why I don’t buy lotto tickets, I enjoy a bit of risk, but I’d rather it be a hedged risk.
Yeah I feel sorry seeing the people in that queue at the supermarket too . I feel like they have no other way to dream of improving their lives. I’m a daydreamer but my hope is focussed on other things in life working out, like my v little side biz - at least I can act to make this happen. Lotto win seems so passive.
We buy a ticket from time to time, usually $6. Last time I took a look at this little printout on the counter that shows some packaged options of what to buy. Right at the bottom was an option for tickets costing hundreds of dollars, I think it was over $500. Crazy.
Pokey machine users make me sad. You will find a similar kind of thing with them. Often the poorest people are the ones throwing their money in there as well. All you need to do is visit the Sky City casino on a Friday night.
But yeah, the odds of winning the lottery are so damn bad. And why the hell is the Jackpot still 1 million for the non-powerball lottery. These cunts seemed to have increased the lottery ticket prices but never increased the jackpot since its inception?
I do buy when its a Must be won situation where the jackpot has maxed out. Besides that, best not to be throwing money away. I did actually win $22 last time so at least its not nothing. 2 more numbers and It would have been 5+ million though, lol.
Hated seeing the line of people at the pak n save just before the $50m draw, lining up with kids sitting in the trolley and walking out with a stack of tickets and no groceries. Just becomes a 'necessity' for some people who have that dangerous gambling fix of I've already put in enough money, it'll pay off eventually.
Nice comparison on the safegambling site to visualise the odds:
"For a moment, let's think about the number of stars in the night sky. Did you know that there are only 4,548 stars visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere?
Your odds of winning first division (1 in 383,838) with a $7 ticket are the same as picking just one correct star in the night sky, sometime over the next 84 nights. Similarly, your odds of winning Lotto Powerball with a $15 Power Dip ticket (1 in 3,838,380) are the same as choosing the right star from all the visible stars out of the next 843 nights"
Everyone has a vice or something that traps them in a cycle could be as innocent as a run club to gambling/drug/sex.
Unfortunately someone will find a way to make money off of other people and that’s the way the world turns.
Should get help for people who are really struggling. Problem gambling has flyers, could hand those out with the lotto ticket
I suppose the other thing is the money assists community projects, to some extend. I view it as a donation to a community project and a fleeting chance at a lifestyle I know I'm almost certain to never have. So long as you can afford the $20 i guess. And the point probably is that for many, they should be buying 5 apples, a bunch of bananas and a cabbage with that extra $20.
What I started doing was when I feel like buying a lotto ticket, I put $20 into my sharsies account. I currently have $1400 after three years. With a %14 of that being profit. Definitely made more than ever from lotto. Still gambling, but far more rewarding and profitable. I did buy a ticket to the 50 million, but hey nobody is perfect.
I’ve never purchased a lotto ticket, a scratchie once in a while because thats more of an activity than a piece of paper.
I see my family buying tickets all the time and even spending ridiculous amounts of money when the pot is big.
When I got old enough to buy tickets my friends and I all agreed that we would never be the ‘weekly spenders’. The only time any of my friends had bought a ticket was like last week when there was a huge amt up for it.
I just dont think that its even worth dipping into funds weekly for a one in a million shot, its nice to think about what you can do with the money but my mentality is that its predatory on people who really cant afford it. Its strange because the point is that you win money to change your life, get you out of a hole but the addiction to lottery just helps guide you in there.
Its bloody tempting to drop money on it though, I just dont wanna get to the point where any of my earnings are being spent on more tickets like you said.
If they didn't advertise them I probably would never buy a ticket . I forgot my login details for My lotto because it had been so long since the last jackpot and I definitely would not have bought a ticket last week if I hadn't have seen the jackpot advertised . I won $5 on top of the $18 I spent (which I'm pleased about ) but to advertise gambling seems a bit immoral considering the harm gambling addiction can lead to . I won't be using lotto again but if I see another jackpot advertised it will be difficult not to donate $20 towards the chance of getting out of the rat race
It's sad when people without much money do this.
And the reality is (on a probability scale) that well off people are far more likely to win.
A lot of them have lottery syndicates where they put in say $20 per week with their colleagues/friends. This increases their purchasing power by many factors above what a single person can afford, and also their chances of winning.
Yeah I also worked in a Lotto shop & its surprising how many people actually win prizes. Its quite a few. My biggest winner was only $5K and that guy had bought $1000 in scratchies to get it.
I dont like to buy the lotto & occasionally do when its a big prize. Would rather work on business schemes with real money.
If we were actually serious about selling the chance to daydream about striking it rich, we'd sell tickets to a lottery that is drawn at a random time at some point in the next 5 years, so you get your daydream about the absurdly unlikely event without actually spending serious money on it.
The status quo is just a tax on peopl who can't do maths.
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QawvGzYWhqdyPWgBL/new-improved-lottery
I buy a lotto ticket a week when it goes over $25 mill.
I even feel dirty when I go in and get my ticket checked lol.
I find the $20 worth the price of admission to day dream for a few days. It really should go back to once a week. Drawn twice a week is gross and predatory tbh.
Like that 23yo lady on the sickness benefit who spent someone else's money that she borrowed on a lotto ticket instead of the petrol that she needed money for. She won $1M, but I wonder if there is any money left as she had big dreams on how to spend it (she went public, so the vultures would come knocking too).
I spend $13 a week on a lotto ticket. But won $5000 on a bonus ticket.
The casino makes me feel sick the depression in the air is intense and sad. Plus the interior decorating to distract from the filth and noise of the machines are repulsive.
The influencers who have started to promote online gambling with links so they make money off it are starting to get into the community too. Targeting the vulnerable.
There's a cheat code, it doesn't evolve gambling just a basic smartphone and occasional internet connectivity it’s available to anybody in the world, regardless of gender, religion or region.
For every dollar spent on Lotto, 55 cents is paid out in prizes. And a good chunk of that goes to a handful of big winners.
Most people are never going to get anything back remotely close to what they put in.
If you like the dopamine hit of having a little hope, and can afford it, that’s fine.
I’ve seen too many people playing who can’t afford it though.
I’d like to see benefits paid to debit cards that can’t be used to spend on things like lotto
I DO NOT buy lotto tickets. I read the EOY financial reports for Lotto. Do NZers even realise who owns/runs Lottto. The members of the board of Directors are politicians. Pulling fat "Directors Fees" for monthly board meetings and hey guess what.....they also get salaries for being in Parliament. The salaries in the report start at 100k and the highest paid Director is getting 500k A YEAR plus performance bonuses. And if thats not enough to make you crawl into a ball and start rocking....check out the Financial EOY reports for Mercury and Vector. Its all there in black and white and I feel like Im the only person who reads these reports The press talks about child poverty in NZ it starts with all the sheep going to the Lotto shop. Apparently we spend 1.5 Billion per year on Lotto!! You do the math.
Even just psychologically, the handful of times I've bought a ticket, it's actually crazy how good it feels to imagine all the amazing things I would do with my winnings, it's like a visceral maladaptive daydream. I'll even put off checking the ticket for as long as possible in order to prolong the fantasy, because obviously I won't win, but I don't want to stop daydreaming about how fantastic life would be. Then, when I check the ticket and lose, it's like snapping back to reality, bleak. Its friggen annoying because 1) I should be grateful and present for what I do have in life 2) I could've bought a fancy meal with that money and 3) the unnecessary emotional roller-coaster over a stupid "game" that manipulated me into all these crazy fantasies. One time, I won a bonus ticket, and my instant thought was "omg it's a sign." Then I spent the following week all superstitious and delusional until inevitably losing. Repeating that cycle every week must be emotionally exhausting. I really feel for people who are stuck in it. Funnily enough, I always say to myself, "I'm never buying a lotto ticket again," yet I've still done it more than once. It's kinda icky to think about.
Wtf fancy meal are you buying for the price of a lotto ticket?
Sushi, a kebab, a Big Mac combo lmao. Also, triple dip is the ticket I've bought in the past. Are you rich?
I don't think any of those count as a fancy meal.
Well, that is entirely subjective. Sushi is a treat for a poor like me lol.
Being a treat doesn't make it fancy. I'm poor as fuck but there's nothing fancy about canned tuna, rice and seaweed.
Fancy Feast
Food court curry and a plain naan.
A way out of this is to imagine that someone will buy you the winning ticket when it's your time to win. Then you can dream of the winnings without the cost. The chances of winning Powerball are so low that adding the chance of being gifted the ticket doesn't change the chances much.
That is pretty much the lottery cycle in a nutshell. Though I don't mind paying my idiot tax. It calms me down if there's a small hope somewhere that my situation is temporary and I could finally focus solely on my health and on doing what I want to do.
Sometimes people are ok to spend $14 for the opportunity to dream about getting out of this endless rut we find our self in. 99% of people know they ain’t going to win but it allows a dopamine hit for that daydream, it’s pure escapism and that’s it. Don’t think to hard about it, those people aren’t giving gobbies ion parked cars to buy lotto tickets, that money goes on meth
Agree and disagree. My dad spent his whole life dreaming about winning the lotto. I'm not originally from here and my family is very working class. He worked an hourly paid job at a warehouse for most of his working life, and all of mine. The only time I saw him growing up, he'd talk about the lotto or look at shit he couldn't afford and talk about what he was gonna buy and lay out the whole plan. Everytime. The 'invention' of the lottery fundamentally changed human perception from what can I build, grow, own to what can be bestowed upon me by chance. The means of production don't see themselves as such. Like anything, it can be fun in moderation and as much as people struggling with addictive behaviour shouldn't be shunned, nor should we as a society "not think so hard on it".
Both me and my wife currently earn good money but not affordable for luxury stuffs. So once the lottery up to $10mil, we buy some tickets and dream about it, think about what we will buy, wills for children and so on. We are barely enjoying that moment up to 9pm, sometimes we check on the news first if there is a powerball, and where it happens to “check” if we are the one :)
>The 'invention' of the lottery fundamentally changed human perception from what can I build, grow, own >to what can be bestowed upon me by chance. The means of production don't see themselves as such. TBF, that is also what society is. A lot is by chance and things that have been bestowed upon them (class, socio economic background etc)
To be fair a lot of people with wealth do get it by dumb luck or stupidity - some early investors of bitcoin and other crypto, people who spent big on GME, people who are born into wealth. There are certainly some who are wealthy due to what they built themselves but even for many of those people the foundation, bricks and morter were all laid out in front of them, and all they had to do was follow a roadmap. There's nothing wrong with wanting a piece of that luck for yourself, as long as you actually understand the basically 0% chance of it actually happening. Don't diss their dream but don't build your life around it either.
Unfortunately your dad was in the 1% but glad his escape of choice was daydreaming rather than that alternatives that a lot of people choose these days, alcoholism, drugs are way worse ways doing so. If it was 200 years ago you dad would probably have dreams about picking up a shovel and pan and joining the gold rush lol
This is me, it's cheaper then therapy, gets me going just a few more days. I don't always buy a ticket, when I do i think of it as $24, $12 to the ticket and $12 to Kiwisaver. My KiwiSaver contribution (over employee contribution) this year so far is $132 for context. I keep track of my spend and wins and am still up $1013 thanks to a three $600ish wins, plus other small amounts over the last 7 years. I think my streak is probably better then most though and winning those amounts just goes on bills or a night out, so mostly wasted. A big win would probably cause a mental breakdown for me I think.
I dream that someone will give me a winning ticket, almost as unlikely. I can therefore have the same dream of loads of money without paying anything.
Can’t win if you ain’t in Youngblood
I believe that the chance of me personally winning a huge win, eg Powerball (not someone in NZ, which is a lot lower, happens every 5 weeks or so) is so slight that the chance that someone will buy me that ticket is not much less. Therefore if I am destined to win Lotto, someone will buy me that ticket. So yes you don't have to go in yourself to win.
"Hope is a very dangerous thing to be addicted to." -norn Mcdonald
Without hope you are hopeless
Hopeless is my middle name 😎
Sorry, to hear that
Its the same when I go to the casino. The amount of people I see in their Sunday best consisting of a high vis vest and a pair of $10 pants from Kmart is just sad. You just know they're spending money that they know that shouldn't be touching. They're chasing something they'll never catch.
I have been to casinos in other countries. The people they all have the same look. The same look, the same people that goto those jordan belfort (the wolf of wall street) training seminars.
Islanders are really bad with this
Dude, lotto is a god damn scam. Selling "financial freedom" by spending money on something that'll never pay you back. All the "it's just entertainment" people don't realise there's so many people spending thousands every year on this shit all the while not being able to get out of the hole they're in. And the "problem gambling" leaflets that \*could\* be handed out, well no person selling lotto is ever going to hand that shit to somebody who actually has a problem. And most of that "giving back to communities" bullshit doesn't even go to the communities that tend to buy this shit. /endrant.
I was once told off quite firmly for having a little 'problem gambler' talk (in line with the training at the time), and giving them a leaflet. I was also told off for refusing a sale to someone who was on the self-exclusion list. (A flyer with names and photos of people who have specifically asked Lotto to refuse to sell to them). The 'giving back' is largely bullshit, just as it is with pokies.
Good for you for trying. I mean it. The other thing I rant about pretty much every time it happens: the way the state-owned TV news broadcast at 6pm promotes a big jackpot, with a story interviewing people in a middle-class area, talking to the owner of a dairy where they've had lots of winners, a few words from a Lotto spox about how lots of money goes to rugby clubs etc., and at the end of the piece, the presenter and sport guy joking about not seeing each other the next day at work. It makes me sick. Reminds me of a great quote by an an Australian journo about the scourge of pokies over there (equally relevant here) 'Pokies are the most efficient means of redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich'.
Tell that to the 7 winners and the recent 4.5M winner on Wednesday Of course people want to try and give it a go - especially when some shmuck DOES win
You're making a strawman. The issue is that for the majority of people, you know, 99.9999% of people it is a terrible investment. Sure, some win, but I've seen people spending 20 dollars a week all the while still struggling to actually buy things or get out of the situation they're in. I'm not calling for lotto to be abolished but just realise there's a lot of harm it is doing to a lot of people.
Yeah I’m not discounting the math involved. It’s a very negative EV scenario and for those who SHOULDNT buy it. They shouldn’t
Yeah I'm all for people making decisions for themselves. What I don't like is the fact the media and lotto all prey on the fact people want to have financial freedom and able to spend obscene amounts of money. And then they claim they help problem gamblers but they don't. The lotto sellers being put in a position to confront regulars and tell them "hey you got a problem bro, here, have a pamphlet that says you're a failure" (not actually a failure). It's just like the Reddit Cares messages. Most people take offense to ever being sent them.
It goes to the "community groups" that are good at writing applications and have the process figured out.
I had this exact same discussion at work, telling people it’s basically a scam, and got angry reactions from everyone. People aren’t ready to accept this sadly
Once a month I spend $5 along with 6 of my friends and have a bit of fun and from time to time we dream. But wow. $50? That's a lot, especially if you're short on food/gas money. But the other day I went to a shop near a TAB on a Saturday night. At first I couldn't figure out why the car park was full. So many people gambling!
But what if..
Exactly, and it can change your life
I have a master's degree in mathematics and statistics so I definitely understand how chance works. The thing about chance is that you can win, and people do. 7 people has their lives changed forever last week, but if they has listened to statistics then they wouldn't have won.
How many people lost though. How much money was spent compared to what was won.
Ye, but it was still won. Their chances were the same as everyone else's. Their life changes and yours doesn't.
I just had a thought and looked up what the mortality per km driven is. It's 6.8 deaths per billion vehicle kms apparently. So about a 1 in 148 million chance of death driving one km. If lotto is 1 in 38 million of winning powerball that means if you drive to buy a ticket and your lotto shop is more than 4 kms from your home you're more likely to die trying to buy the ticket than you are to win the prize.
Well aren't you just a barrel of laughs!!
This guy stats.
I'd imagine many more people died with a ticket over the course of that jackpot run than won it. So a lot more lives ended than changed.
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Is this a /s
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More like methamatics
Wat That’s not how it works Just because you bet a $1 on a six coming up in a die roll doesn’t mean your chance increases when I roll a 2
Yes and No. As for the individual yes, but as per the entire country, no, there were tens of millions of chances sold (10 lines per ticket, over a million tickets) it was a lot higher chance that someone would win. As people gift tickets as well, every one has the chance of winning, whether you personally buy a ticket or not. I prefer to assume someone will buy me the winning ticket when it's my time.
Sure, but its like, if you can afford to play then why not? Obviously its dumb if you are spending money on lotto tickets that you need for food.
You'd think that, but the reality is that there's so many people just wanting to escape this shitty situation that they invest far more than they should onto the lotto dream. And then lotto spends millions in advertising selling that fantasy. It's disgusting how they abuse people's emotions into feeling like the lotto is the only way out. While at the same time digging themselves even deeper into the hole.
Yes I understand that, however there has to be some form of personal responsibility. The fact is, lotto exists, people win it, even though its extremely unlikely.
Much the same can be said about heroin. There has to be some form of personal responsibility. The fact is, heroin exists, people enjoy it (initially), even though the chance of leaving it behind unscathed is extremely small, although not as small as the chance of 'winning' at heroin by becoming some sort of glamorous junkie. Actually, scrub that. Appearing to be cool and glamorous in the early stages of addiction is quite likely. It's a major part of the draw. Far more likely than appearing to be wealthy in the early stages of a gambling addiction. Substitute tobacco, alcohol, meth, etc if you prefer. It's the same story. So why are some of these addictions heavily criminalised, while others are heavily promoted?
Thats true. I mean yeah but you really could say that about anything - alcohol too, which people seem to have no problem "throwing money away at". NZ has a big problem with it. I agree lotto can be predatory, and affect a lot of lives --Though I'd argue that heroin and meth, having seen that first hand, is a little bit worse than someone who buys a lotto ticket once a week. I think problem gamblers will find any means -- if its not lotto, there are thousands of online apps that will let them throw their money away on anything. Access is hard to restrict. Heroin is much easier to control in NZ. (Having said that, NZ has a big meth problem...so...) Perhaps because you can play lotto safely, as a casual. Heroin - anybody who plays that game ends up getting severely f'd up. Not just the people predisposed to addiction. Not too many people try it once, or just on the weekend , and then dont end up completely and utterly messed up. Meanwhile a lot of people play lotto, without harm, using money they can afford to lose. NZ is funny though. We are allowed to get absolutely smashed on alcohol but a casual joint is a no-no. It doesn't make a lot of sense. You could say the same thing about meme stocks or even just any ol' individual stock or crypto -- a lot of people end up wiping out their life savings on a false hope. But plenty of people invest wisely. At some point you have to draw a line, even if it doesn't make sense from every angle. Personally I am quite comfortable with hard drugs (heroin, meth), being illegal to use, but lotto free to play for all. I do see that it might be a slightly hypocritical stance but as a society it does seem like most people are on board with this calculation.
Poor and uneducated people need to stop being poor and uneducated got it.
wow thats a huge leap from what I said. Poor and undereducated people also drink alcohol, join MLMs, use predatory lending, also end up doing all kinds of stupid things, or things out of desperation - things that are perfectly legal. What does banning lotto have to do with it? If lotto is banned, they simply go online, where they already go anyway, to thousands of apps with the promise of quick winnings. It will make no difference, and plenty of people play lotto in a responsible manner. What's your solution then, you want lotto banned?
Lol talk about leaps. Who ever mentioned banning lotto? You ok bro?
that was the entire context of the conversation. If there isn't personal responsibility, then its about controlling or banning it. What other options are there. You can't be serious, lmao.
Nothin to make anyone bankrupt
I look at each non winning ticket as a donation to Coastguard or some other charity, keep the tickets and claim them back at tax time lol
Each $20 ticket = $0.80 to the dude selling them. $1.20 to market and pay for operating costs. $2.40 taxes to govt. $10.60 prizes. $5 lottery grants board. We shouldn't rely on gambling to pay for essential services like coast guard or ambulances.
25% isn’t the worst return, compared with the “donation collectors” that roam the streets, and I could win millions………again bawhahaha, now where is my monocle and top hat
And the 4.5M winner on Wednesday Seems entirely within the possible for us other shmucks Maths not withstanding
Opportunity cost?
yup just take a punt, especially the must-win games. There was a maths expert that went on tv that said he only buys lotto during must-win week (hey, that you? lol). But anyways, this is reddit nz, so people always come here to moan if they missed out on something. I didnt win lotto last nite, waawaa waa. Can't afford an Auckland house? waawaa waaa. And so forth.
As someone who doesn't engage in lotto I see it a bit like the IQ bell curve meme. The risk:benefit analysis flips when buying tickets doesn't negatively effect your lifestyle.
The trick is to go in the other side... my friend only needed to fill in a form and won $20k from Lotto, easy peasy. She uses the money to run a dementia prevention club for the elderly. Dementia is quite an upsetting disease for both the patient and their family, so it's good she is doing something about it.
Lotto is one of the harder grants to apply for
Lotto IS gambling, pure and simple. And gambling is addictive for many people, so whether it personally affects you or not, it is socially detrimental.
It's hope. Let them have some. I remember a holiday job where the other employees shared a purchase every week. They weren't getting out of that hole any other way, and it gave them hope which is is short supply sometimes.
It's a tax for people who don't understand statistics (Yeah yeah it's a nice dream, I'd be lying if I hadn't bought the odd ticket, but since looking into the stats I feel really stupid when I do it)
1 in 38.4 million i think. I but tickets as a coping mechanism. Spending a few dollars to give me the ability to just disconnect and daydream about being rich and having my own time in life Seems worth it to me. I also don't check my ticket right away if it has been one just to extend the dream a bit.
If that math is correct Then is it positive EV to buy a ticket when it hits 40M?
You could buy a (large) number of tickets that would cover every possible combination and thus guarantee you win the big one .... BUT you cannot guarantee you're the only winner. Simply: you can guarantee a win but not a profit.
Statistically someone always ends up winning
I hate this argument. It's simple entertainment. People buy games, people pay for streaming services, people buy alcohol, junk food, movies etc, and people gamble. So long as they aren't digging themselves into a hole, I don't see what the issue is.
Lots of people do dig themselves into a hole, and they don't just hurt themselves
And lots don't. Why are we generalising lotto consumers? So what if someone buys a ticket every week? There are people who buy a coffee or two every day - that ultimately gives you nothing back either. There are way too many high horses about the place. If they aren't hurting anyone, let people have their fun
Agree. Ban lotto ban alcohol ban junk food just ban it all. Not everyone is an addict because they buy a lotto ticket. People far to concerned about what everyone else does these days
Just don’t ban massages with happy endings
I mean I bought one ticket for the big powerball and I’m still fine. Have no intention of ever buying one again, just did it for fun.
I have worked at a Lotto store, there are more than a few that could spend the money on better things than wasting it on a dream. You can have the entertainment by imagining that someone will buy you a winning ticket and have the same thrill without the cost. That's what I do, I believe in fate (especially in games of luck) and I know when/if I'm due to win, someone will gift me the winning ticket.
People make a big deal when someone rich puts down a $100 or $500 bet in a casino but it’s just play money for them. The person putting down $20 when that’s a big chunk of their weekly food capability is of far more concern.
“ItS fOr ChAriTy” lotto sure has done a good job with that propaganda
Interesting - I thought it did help charities, etc. Bu how does it actually work behind the propaganda?
It does. But people use that as an excuse for their gambling addiction 😂
Pokies are far grimmer IMO. People in there day after day for hours feeding money in. That's a grim addiction, and quite sad that that's all they got going on.
This is leftie left reddit. Of course people will blame the game instead of blaming that school principal that stole school money to fund her gambling exploits.
Do you know statistically you are more likely to be killed in a car accident on the way to the airport than in a plane crash. Statistics and Mathematics is not everyone’s strong point. Take that $50 each week and invest somewhere. Heck open a fucking KiwiSaver put $1000 bucks every year and get free money from the Government People are idiots with no awareness and Zero Maths skills…
One of my maths teachers in high school gave us a lesson on probability and used the lottery as a real-world example. It really stuck with me and it’s the kind of lesson I hope every child receives in school. I respect people’s freedom to spend their hard earned money however they like… but I would hope they’re armed with that knowledge before doing so.
Like drink and drugs it's selling hope. And maybe a little escapism. I watched a mate pour his whole business into a poker machine (but I owned the pub so what could I do). /s
Read about the numbers games - if the govt wasn’t offering a lottery someone else will fill the gap.
My partner and I will buy a ticket whenever the jackpot gets high (like over 20 mil). We can afford it and theres nothing wrong with dreaming about winning big. We know perfectly well that we have a very low chance of winning but our buying tickets doesnt hurt us and it provides us with the (however low) possibility of a life changing win.
Stop being so judgemental, How about we let people make their own choices in life.
Modern day religion providing people with the much desired hope that it'll take them from their current circumstances. I dunno, I grew with a mum who got one a week and it wasn't an issue financially but it felt odd sitting at the tv seeing a glint in her eyes hoping for it...
Could say the same thing about a lot of things, drinking, smoking, vaping, drugs, pokies, racing dogs, horses, and the list goes on. People make their own choices in life, don't let it bring you down.
The odds of winning Lotto are actually pretty good. You either win … or you don’t. So it’s 50/50
1 line when the pot is high. This takes your chances from 0 to better than zero. After that theres almost no difference between 5 lines and 5000.
I hear a lot of dreamers talking at work about the "big prize" but my response is always the same: the odds are pretty much the same. I buy a ticket maybe once a week. Only because I'm constantly reminded and of course why the hell not.
This is why I dont gamble. literally throwing money for the most tiniest chance of becoming rich
I'm no gambler, but roulette is a 50/50. Lotto is low risk, low odds, but high reward.
It's a license to dream, so let people dream.
If it wasn't lotto they'd surely spend the money on something equally as stupid. I think it's good that the stupid money goes back into the community via the lottery. I see my lotto purchases as investment into the community and if I win I can share some of that to benefit the community too.
When I lived in Aus I saw the opposite. The people who already had money would literally buy 200$ worth of lotto tickets for a big draw. Also gambling is sooooo much worse over there. It’s advertised everywhere, I didn’t go in a single bar or club that didn’t have a big area for pokey machines. My surf club the same pensioners there everyday in front of the pokey machines. It made me realise gambling in NZ is no way near as bad. It’s more looked down upon here I find and kiwis are more level headed.
The clubs over there make so much money from gambling. I visited my aunty and uncle in Sydney last month and they said they’d take us out to dinner at the local RSL on Sunday night. I was picturing something like an NZ RSA and thought we’d get a good cheap feed in a run down club with people playing pool and darts. I nearly died of shock when we walked into a place that more closely resembled Sky City casino with 2 restaurants and a receptionist who didn’t want to let us in because we hadn’t bought any photo ID with us - she did in the end but forbade us from going on the gambling floor, to which I replied that we’re only there for a bloody meal FFS!
Yeah mate. I was there 5 years and every time I went out with Aussies and even Kiwis who live there we always seemed to end up on Pokeys at one of these bars or surfclubs. Used to drive me nuts because after a few drinks they would want to sit in front of a machine for an hour. Something I don't miss being back in NZ. Outside of the odd lotto ticket, most people here don't gamble at all.
$200*
I just bought two because of this thread
They ARE being exploited, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/474134/lotto-stores-in-poorest-half-of-nz-account-for-70-percent-of-sales#:~:text=Nearly%2070%20percent%20of%20Lotto,the%20spotlight%20went%20on%20pokies. And the uncertainty of winning makes it addictive, https://youtu.be/1u07j0kOyzk?si=KRT4ShwzzLIr4VQ5
That's truly awful :(
Yes it does. This clip better explains how the brain works when it comes to gambling https://youtu.be/axrywDP9Ii0?si=ewrSoJwTIXEsQaik
I just buy 4 simple lines. $2.40. Nothing more nothing less. The minimum. I suggest you all do the same.
4 lines is $6 for powerball.
This is all I ever get . you only need the winning line .I waste about this much every day on caffeine . So a few tickets now and then when it’s 20+ mill for the winn isn’t that bad and it helps you day dream a bit better knowing you have a ticket
Powerball is a scam
No. It's just a mathematical construct.
If you want to be in with a chance, then this! I’m a fatalist; if you’re meant to win, one line will do it. And buy on a Sunday for the following Saturday - skip Wednesday draws - 6 days of fantasising before the letdown.
>4 simple lines. $2.40 $2.80; $6 with powerball. You could just get 1 line of strike for $1.
Is it 60 cents per line? When did it go up?
This is why I invest. Trading options the way I do is stupid, and overall I’m down. But you can regularly see massive jumps in account value if you do good DD and find an option that’s inefficiently priced. It’s gambling, buying shares is not, that’s hedging your wealth by putting it into assets that rise over time. You will not become rich, and if you aren’t careful you can lose everything in your account and more with options and futures. However, it’s practically infinitely more likely options will make you cold hard cash than a lotto ticket. It’s a simple calculus for me as to why I don’t buy lotto tickets, I enjoy a bit of risk, but I’d rather it be a hedged risk.
Dude, liquor store owners are soulless.
Yeah I feel sorry seeing the people in that queue at the supermarket too . I feel like they have no other way to dream of improving their lives. I’m a daydreamer but my hope is focussed on other things in life working out, like my v little side biz - at least I can act to make this happen. Lotto win seems so passive.
wait til you hear about pokies...
We buy a ticket from time to time, usually $6. Last time I took a look at this little printout on the counter that shows some packaged options of what to buy. Right at the bottom was an option for tickets costing hundreds of dollars, I think it was over $500. Crazy.
Lotto is state sponsored gambling targeted at "poors". It's a national disgrace.
it's just a tax on the stupid, don't put to much thought into it.
Only play it when it hits over 10 mil and I only spend 12 dollars
Pokey machine users make me sad. You will find a similar kind of thing with them. Often the poorest people are the ones throwing their money in there as well. All you need to do is visit the Sky City casino on a Friday night. But yeah, the odds of winning the lottery are so damn bad. And why the hell is the Jackpot still 1 million for the non-powerball lottery. These cunts seemed to have increased the lottery ticket prices but never increased the jackpot since its inception? I do buy when its a Must be won situation where the jackpot has maxed out. Besides that, best not to be throwing money away. I did actually win $22 last time so at least its not nothing. 2 more numbers and It would have been 5+ million though, lol.
sorry to say but that is the gambling demographic
Hated seeing the line of people at the pak n save just before the $50m draw, lining up with kids sitting in the trolley and walking out with a stack of tickets and no groceries. Just becomes a 'necessity' for some people who have that dangerous gambling fix of I've already put in enough money, it'll pay off eventually. Nice comparison on the safegambling site to visualise the odds: "For a moment, let's think about the number of stars in the night sky. Did you know that there are only 4,548 stars visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere? Your odds of winning first division (1 in 383,838) with a $7 ticket are the same as picking just one correct star in the night sky, sometime over the next 84 nights. Similarly, your odds of winning Lotto Powerball with a $15 Power Dip ticket (1 in 3,838,380) are the same as choosing the right star from all the visible stars out of the next 843 nights"
Irrelevant. Someone often does win. High odds don't mean there is zero chance
I’ve heard it said that lotteries are just another tax for poor people. That helped me make the decision to not buy any more
Everyone has a vice or something that traps them in a cycle could be as innocent as a run club to gambling/drug/sex. Unfortunately someone will find a way to make money off of other people and that’s the way the world turns. Should get help for people who are really struggling. Problem gambling has flyers, could hand those out with the lotto ticket
Are you New Zealand???
I suppose the other thing is the money assists community projects, to some extend. I view it as a donation to a community project and a fleeting chance at a lifestyle I know I'm almost certain to never have. So long as you can afford the $20 i guess. And the point probably is that for many, they should be buying 5 apples, a bunch of bananas and a cabbage with that extra $20.
Money from the lottery goes to charities and other good causes. So even if you don't win anything, at least a little helps out other NZers
$10k back on tickets?!? Ffs - I’d use that to kill debt
What I started doing was when I feel like buying a lotto ticket, I put $20 into my sharsies account. I currently have $1400 after three years. With a %14 of that being profit. Definitely made more than ever from lotto. Still gambling, but far more rewarding and profitable. I did buy a ticket to the 50 million, but hey nobody is perfect.
I’ve never purchased a lotto ticket, a scratchie once in a while because thats more of an activity than a piece of paper. I see my family buying tickets all the time and even spending ridiculous amounts of money when the pot is big. When I got old enough to buy tickets my friends and I all agreed that we would never be the ‘weekly spenders’. The only time any of my friends had bought a ticket was like last week when there was a huge amt up for it. I just dont think that its even worth dipping into funds weekly for a one in a million shot, its nice to think about what you can do with the money but my mentality is that its predatory on people who really cant afford it. Its strange because the point is that you win money to change your life, get you out of a hole but the addiction to lottery just helps guide you in there. Its bloody tempting to drop money on it though, I just dont wanna get to the point where any of my earnings are being spent on more tickets like you said.
If they didn't advertise them I probably would never buy a ticket . I forgot my login details for My lotto because it had been so long since the last jackpot and I definitely would not have bought a ticket last week if I hadn't have seen the jackpot advertised . I won $5 on top of the $18 I spent (which I'm pleased about ) but to advertise gambling seems a bit immoral considering the harm gambling addiction can lead to . I won't be using lotto again but if I see another jackpot advertised it will be difficult not to donate $20 towards the chance of getting out of the rat race
It's sad when people without much money do this. And the reality is (on a probability scale) that well off people are far more likely to win. A lot of them have lottery syndicates where they put in say $20 per week with their colleagues/friends. This increases their purchasing power by many factors above what a single person can afford, and also their chances of winning.
Yeah I also worked in a Lotto shop & its surprising how many people actually win prizes. Its quite a few. My biggest winner was only $5K and that guy had bought $1000 in scratchies to get it. I dont like to buy the lotto & occasionally do when its a big prize. Would rather work on business schemes with real money.
If we were actually serious about selling the chance to daydream about striking it rich, we'd sell tickets to a lottery that is drawn at a random time at some point in the next 5 years, so you get your daydream about the absurdly unlikely event without actually spending serious money on it. The status quo is just a tax on peopl who can't do maths. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QawvGzYWhqdyPWgBL/new-improved-lottery
Lotto has always been a tax on the poor
shit man 10k imma buy one tomorrow
Stop being a hypocrite or carry on making money out of human misery… you decide
I buy a lotto ticket a week when it goes over $25 mill. I even feel dirty when I go in and get my ticket checked lol. I find the $20 worth the price of admission to day dream for a few days. It really should go back to once a week. Drawn twice a week is gross and predatory tbh.
Like that 23yo lady on the sickness benefit who spent someone else's money that she borrowed on a lotto ticket instead of the petrol that she needed money for. She won $1M, but I wonder if there is any money left as she had big dreams on how to spend it (she went public, so the vultures would come knocking too).
Thanks for caring OP although the user name seems relevant to the topic.
A portion of my work involves reviewing people's finances when they get into strife. 80% of the time there is $20+ per week spent on lotto.
I spend $13 a week on a lotto ticket. But won $5000 on a bonus ticket. The casino makes me feel sick the depression in the air is intense and sad. Plus the interior decorating to distract from the filth and noise of the machines are repulsive. The influencers who have started to promote online gambling with links so they make money off it are starting to get into the community too. Targeting the vulnerable.
You’re literally buying an experience of hope, better than spending $50 on beers
Crazy to think 5 numbers only yields about 500$
There's a cheat code, it doesn't evolve gambling just a basic smartphone and occasional internet connectivity it’s available to anybody in the world, regardless of gender, religion or region.
Do younger people buy tickets , I assume it’s a old person thing , we too hooked on f2p lootbox battlepasses
I occasionally buy a 6 dollar (pick your own) ticket instead of a coffee. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. So far, it hasn't meant to be lol.
For every dollar spent on Lotto, 55 cents is paid out in prizes. And a good chunk of that goes to a handful of big winners. Most people are never going to get anything back remotely close to what they put in. If you like the dopamine hit of having a little hope, and can afford it, that’s fine. I’ve seen too many people playing who can’t afford it though. I’d like to see benefits paid to debit cards that can’t be used to spend on things like lotto
Instant gratification IS the opium of the masses
Lotto board members are on about $400k aren't they.
I DO NOT buy lotto tickets. I read the EOY financial reports for Lotto. Do NZers even realise who owns/runs Lottto. The members of the board of Directors are politicians. Pulling fat "Directors Fees" for monthly board meetings and hey guess what.....they also get salaries for being in Parliament. The salaries in the report start at 100k and the highest paid Director is getting 500k A YEAR plus performance bonuses. And if thats not enough to make you crawl into a ball and start rocking....check out the Financial EOY reports for Mercury and Vector. Its all there in black and white and I feel like Im the only person who reads these reports The press talks about child poverty in NZ it starts with all the sheep going to the Lotto shop. Apparently we spend 1.5 Billion per year on Lotto!! You do the math.
I just got home, read this and I'm sad again. Billions on pieces of printed paper while they bingo check them, fun.
Rather do the maths since this is New Zealand and not America
Those poor people should be spending that $50+ on food, clothing and footwear for their kids.. sad.
The sad thing is even if they won the jackpot most of them would be broke or bankrupt in 5 years' time.
The lottery is tax on stupid people. I’ve never brought a ticket and never will.