Lottery is a poor man's tax

[Fortify]

I totally agree with the idea that lottery is a poor man's tax, but when you're in that position and desperate - it looks like a way out. The odds against you are so astronomical that you are effectively wasting money if you do this form of betting on a regular basis. There will always be a winner, but you'll find that lottery operators are constantly tweaking the numbers and it is rarely to favor the people buying tickets.

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[madnessteat]

I have a negative attitude to state lotteries, as I do not believe in the integrity of such lotteries. In my opinion, more transparency is needed to ensure the necessary level of trust. This could be achieved using a blockchain, but my state is unlikely to do it.

[mindrust]

That sounds about right.

Gambling in general is a way to tax people.  Because mathematically the house has to make profits to stay afloat while the players have to lose money.

Sometimes you pay your taxes directly to the government, sometimes you pay the casino and the casino pays the government.

Some smart people find ways to trick the casinos (arbitrage betting, value betting etc) but without a surprise, casinos ban them right away.

[swogerino]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

You forgot to mention the true appeal of a lottery and state lottery for example which is the cost of a ticket.Usually varies in developed countries between 1-3 Eur or Usd and in third world countries to 1 Usd max.These are amounts anyone can afford even those hanging near the poverty line as even the one with the minimum wage can decide to spend 5 usd on tickets every week and rely on luck.That is what makes lottery a very lucrative form of gambling even for people who only play lottery and are not real gamblers.

[carlisle1]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

First gambling is Luck based mostly so whats the difference between playing in Slots and betting in lottery ?at least in lottery there is only 2-3 draws a week (in my country) so it is more cheaper than playing in casino either Online or in real.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

there is a person who tries to beat lottery in the past but in the end?they still the loser.

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

Nope all gambling institution in my country has been taxed so even the richest person is entitled in taxation by all means.

[abhiseshakana]

Everyone will definitely hope to win a lottery, this is a natural thing because whatever prizes we get can be used as additional income. The problem is when it becomes a habit and costs a lot of money to pursue the opportunity. What is wrong is not in the habit but using a lot of money to get a chance to win the lottery so that the habit becomes bad.

The chance to win the lottery is always related to luck, although buying many combinations can increase the odds, but if we are not lucky then we could still lose.

[dothebeats]

That's one way at looking at it, and I do agree with it. At the least, the government is being honest somewhat on their lotteries, given that from time to time they are advising the public to gamble responsibly.

On the taxation part, I do agree since most government-run lotteries are still subject to tax, which takes a lot of cut from the winnings too. There had been a documentary wherein lottery winners were interviewed about their huge winnings. It was a surreal experience, sure, but the tax that they impose on such wins is just insane, too. Some other times, they also suggest hiring a legal adviser from their public offices to 'handle' such funds, which then bills them a huge sum for a single piece of advice. I mean, financial advisers are good and all especially in making a financial decision, but from the public offices? No.

The promise of a good life after winning the lottery is what gets poor people hooked to playing the lottery. I have known a lot of people 'taking care' of certain numbers for decades and still hasn't won a single cent, and have even told them had they saved those few $ per bet, they would have gotten somewhere else now.

[shoreno]

lotto did not make any promises but people are the ones that assumed it . infact lotto is still questionable to some if this is really legit or its only a way to milk people but not totally milk because its said that government based lotto are being tax or can go to the charity . i hope that was true and they dont lie when they say that  . people in any status make bets on lotto not just the poor , comparing lotto to astraunut is new to me but its not fair because anyone can be an astraunut  while winning in lotto is close to impossible.  no mathetmatician can make a combination but i agree that buying all the possible combination can increase your win chance

[samcrypto]

Considering the amount that you can win on Lottery, of course people will play more to increase their chances of winning, unfortunately those people don’t know how to know the probability to win on lotto and this is also why the government is making them fool literally, and taking advantage against them to collect more money. Though I support their Charity works but hopefully, bettors will not literally depend on this because hard works always pays off.

[Porfirii]

A professor of mine who held (hedl) a chair in economics knew a man (I can't remember whether he was statistician or mathematician) who used to say that he knew better than anyone else he knew the extent of the probability of winning the lottery, and he was probably right.

Even if he understood better than any of us the abstract implications of such a minimal chance, he used to say that the savviest choice was to play: there is no other thing that you can buy for $1 with the potential to give you such a huge excitement.

The problem is that some people spend too much money on it, while just a little bit makes almost the same impression of hope.

[peter0425]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

Nope because Lottery has been there ever since and not only poor people is engaging in Lottery,also taxation is applied to all gambling games not only this.

though yeah majority of bettors are poor but it does not necessarily mean those are being abused of the government.

[yazher]

If it's not for the poor people's benefited from the medical assistance, our charity sweepstakes office has already closed. but a lot of people have requested to put it back because they think it is the only chance to raise themselves from poverty. nowadays, you can a lot of people fall in line just to get their hand to buy one ticket that might lead them to escape poverty but in most cases, that's become one of the reasons to stay in poverty because of such mindsets.

This is the article regarding our national charity sweepstakes office.



https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/7/27/what-s-at-stake-duterte-order-pcso-lotteries-closure.html

[Japinat]

I don't see it as a tax since they are free to avoid it but most of the poor are really clinging into it.
They are paying for it every once in a while to try their luck on hitting that jackpot that is almost impossible to get.
And I understand them even though I hate the idea for them it is a small sacrifice to have a chance of becoming a multi millionaire.

That's a clear point, tax is something compulsory while lottery is not.

Lottery is a kind of game that the poor loves to play, they are hoping that when their luck comes it would change their lives, but only small percentage are really winning, that's why our government loves to run their state sponsored lottery as they can make huge money from it.

I still remember that the lottery in our country run by state was stopped by the president due to corruption, but it was resume later one as they maybe realized they are losing big money on a daily basis when it's on pause mode.

[Botnake]

When we say tax, it's coming from the government impose to people with income. This is not a right definition of lottery, IMO, it's more like a donation and most lotteries revenue are to help the poor people, but unfortunately, poor people are their usual bettors.

[bitcoin31]

Maybe the others winners of lotto is not true but for sure other winners are true. The profit that lottery will get in my country will gives to the charity or people needs help but for sure behind that they have still corruption because in every government operation for sure they have group or person who are doing bad but not all. They tax us already we are all tax payers and maybe this is other way for them to get more money or as tax. The ticket or betting is lottery is very low everyone can avail that but the winning is not easy because yes it is lot of combination numbers.

[robelneo]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

I'm playing lottery and I don't see anything wrong on it, our government is the one running the lottery and a big chunk of the revenue go to the charity program of the government, so if I'm betting in a lottery I am hoping to win the jackpot but if I did not win the jackpot at least I have a consolation that I am helping the government's program to uplift the need of the poor, and if it's a way to tax the people I consider this no issue at all as long as I can see that people benefits from this.

[MWesterweele]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution.

Most notorious gambling game in terms of getting their money .
Since it only needs a small amount of money to make a bet, even an Average Joe can bet in lottery and even a poor person can bet on it too.

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

I can't really say that the government-owned lottery is their way to scam people since our lottery here are helping other poor people. I don't know in other government-owned lotteries in different countries though. Although it is already in my mind that government = corrupt, I can't say 100% that they are scamming people thru lottery.

I'm not playing TBH and I never tried it in my whole life. Once a week is enough maybe for me. I'm not focusing too much on things that will not give me benefit if I give some time, money and effort into it like gambling.

Here in our country lottery were being operated by the government. Legally implemented and yeah mostly of the customer was a poor people hoping that the spin of luck will throw to them and will win a million prizes. Though i cannot blame our other countrymen since the life here in our country was really hard. You can't get that dream million money of yours by just working out even 24/7. What i truly meant was cost of living was high and the salary of regular job were not so enough to sustain the daily needs of the family, so yeah maybe its true that the lottery was a poor man's tax.

[kotajikikox]

i am a Lottery fan mate and i still Bet in lottery at least one or twice a week not because i am Poor but because this is the gambling i learned from my parents and even my grandies .

now about Being taxed?nope taxation is just a normal in each gambling either online or in lottery and real casinos.

and i don't feel that way mate,i trust the government and give them a chance to seek taxes for the people.

When we say tax, it's coming from the government impose to people with income. This is not a right definition of lottery, IMO, it's more like a donation and most lotteries revenue are to help the poor people, but unfortunately, poor people are their usual bettors.

Government also gets taxes from casino and yes it is to help people and Non government organizations that seeks for support.

[CODE200]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

Nope because Lottery has been there ever since and not only poor people is engaging in Lottery,also taxation is applied to all gambling games not only this.

though yeah majority of bettors are poor but it does not necessarily mean those are being abused of the government.

People are not mandated to bet on lotteries and that is enough I think to tell that it is not an abuse of the government. They tend to bet not because they are required but because it is their own likeness hoping to get a "better" life out of luck. Since they are having a tough time to get rich on their jobs, they are still gambling their luck to the other way of having huge mount of money. We cannot blame them from doing so, since in the first place they are not required to bet on lotteries. But it is true, winning is a punch to the moon and little do they know that as their trials are getting bigger, same thing happens with their losses.

[Beparanf]

Lottery is the most notorious of all the gambling institution. The promise of a good life is what makes this a lucrative attraction for the people below or hanging in the poverty line. Although the odds of winning is higher than becoming an astronaut, many still take the chance to get the coveted numbers. Unless you are a statistician/mathematician or you have the money the money to buy all the combinations, winning is close to impossible.

Do you think that the pros of playing lottery outweigh the cons or vice versa?

Is government owned lottery a scummy way to tax the poor people?

How far are you willing to gamble to win the coveted jackpot (If you are playing lottery)?

Nope because Lottery has been there ever since and not only poor people is engaging in Lottery,also taxation is applied to all gambling games not only this.

though yeah majority of bettors are poor but it does not necessarily mean those are being abused of the government.

People are not mandated to bet on lotteries and that is enough I think to tell that it is not an abuse of the government. They tend to bet not because they are required but because it is their own likeness hoping to get a "better" life out of luck. Since they are having a tough time to get rich on their jobs, they are still gambling their luck to the other way of having huge mount of money. We cannot blame them from doing so, since in the first place they are not required to bet on lotteries. But it is true, winning is a punch to the moon and little do they know that as their trials are getting bigger, same thing happens with their losses.

It's actually a tax trap by the government. There's a lot of free money coming in on lottery since anyone can play it disregarding financial status. Playing it cost small amount of money so even poorest of the poor can bet there last penny to gamble for there fortune.

The chance of winning the lottery is slimmer rather than by a lightning. Imagine the majority of the people throwing there money on this government gambling makes a huge chunk of money for the government. Why small time gambling is prohibited while this gambling is legal while the amount of money on playing on it is same small amount? Simply because government can easily monopolise tax using this lottery game. I agree on OP the way he view this game.