Is playing national lottery smart or waste of time?

[GigaBit]

We can not conclude or take decision to some people the way I'm seeing it, so i believe that gamblling is a game of choice and interest, some people doesn't like playing lottery kind of game the way I'm seeing it, and another thing is that gamblling have varieties, someone that like casino kind of gamblling may not like to participate in lottery kind of gambling and also a poker kind of gambling or soccer gambling, so it's a game of specialty and personal interest.

Yes, our interests matter, this is about choice and what we want that would please us. I would say that playing the national lottery is not a bad thing, there is no big deal in it too as the money to play it are so low, and who knows, you might be the lucky winner one day. And you know what that means, it means that you might change your status for life with just a risk of a little amount of money.

The National Lottery is undoubtedly an opportunity. If the luck is very good then it is possible to win many unfulfilled dreams of life can be fulled by winning this lottery. The price of this lottery is relatively low but the prize is quite large. Winning such a lottery is not very common. Moreover, due to lack of publicity, people do not know much about the results or winners of this lottery. Due to which people are losing interest in it day by day. An advantage in gambling is when you are betting you are either getting a return or losing it all. People prefer gambling more than national lottery because of getting its results immediately.

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[crzy]

Do you play national lottery games (Powerball, EuroMillions, Lotto etc)?

Most of the time before but since the pandemic started, I was able to escape such addiction and stop placing a bet for a while.
Playing on a lottery is not just a waste of time but also a waste of money, you will only realize this when you already spend a lot of money on that lottery. Imagine, playing for at least $1 a day can still be big money for the whole year, what more to other better who are spending a lot for many years already.

[pawel7777]

I always try to play on it with 1 ticket and my dad already plays on it for more than 40 years and he will continue to do it as he still hopes to one day win the big lot. Years ago he was so close but instead of winning millions he won a couple of grand which is also not so bad.

My old man also played the lotto his whole adult life. He managed to hit the 2nd prize twice, but obviously still spent more (by far) on tickets than he earned in winnings.

I play my national weekly lottery for the simple reason that a ticket costs just 2 dollars,...

But why wouldn't you just take that $2 and auto-bet it i.e. on a 1% dice. You could still win a few $millions (depending on site's budget that is) but at much better odds. Is it just because of time and convenience?

They have the worse odds but they do not make anyone addicted,we have to wait on Saturday when the lottery is being shown in TV so as long as someone has such ticket there is no need to go to the casino,of course there are a lot of people who buy such tickets and who never go to the casino or gamble so in this sense they are smart for me.

There are plenty of people who spend small fortunes on lottery tickets regularly. I agree that's probably a bit different kind of addiction than addiction to physical casinos and similar gambling (as the latter are more dopamine-based addictions) but it could still cause some financial damage if left out of control.

I found it offensive, but those people who bet on lottery are still gamblers even though the odds are small and they only bet a small amount. as long as they risk money to have a chance to make a big amount of money. You are kind of pointing out that gamblers are just the ones who bet big on casinos.
...

Are you referring to my OP? What's offensive about that?
And no, I'm saying the opposite - that lottery is also a type of gambling.

Here in the Philippines, we have all types of lotteries nationwide. A national lottery run by the government that promises to use the collected bets for charities, medical assistance, etc.
...

I think it's a similar theme in most other countries as well. You could argue that this makes such lotteries more "moral" than other types of gambling, but I still find it a bit hypocritical when country bans most/all of gambling but encourages and profits from state-controlled lottery.
So far the poll is split 50/50 between lottery players and non-players. I expected players to be dominant tbh

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Imagine, playing for at least $1 a day can still be big money for the whole year, what more to other better who are spending a lot for many years already.

Some people gamble away a lot of money in a regular casino, unless they are winning quite often. Summing up their losses, it's a lot of money in a year. This lottery is a waste of time, but they allow the low-class gamblers to bet with a very small amount. There is one lottery company in my country that allows people to bet with as little as $0.05. I tried it once, but that was also my last time. Gambling is just what it is; at the end of the year, gamblers lose quite a lot of money if summed up, even without realizing it.

Most people are not satisfied with their lives and they need some sort of hope for the future to keep going and to prevent themselves from turning into crime, falling into depression etc. However messed-up your life might be, there's still hope that buying a cheap lottery ticket could potentially turn you into a millionaire (or even a billionaire) overnight. That's a powerful tool

How about you see it from a different angle? Most people are so unfortunate, and life is so unfair to them. No matter how hard they try, things seem not working out for them. To protect themselves from immorality and illegality, they go into cheap lottery games with the hope of winning a jackpot that can turn their lives around. Like you said, most are not satisfied with their lives; that's correct, but also many don't even have anything to make them satisfied; they beg to feed; they depend 100% on others to survive; and they are under other bad circumstances. They just look for a way to break through those unforseen circumstances, and all they think of is buying cheap lottery tickets in the hope of winning the jackpot.

[noormcs5]

We can not conclude or take decision to some people the way I'm seeing it, so i believe that gamblling is a game of choice and interest, some people doesn't like playing lottery kind of game the way I'm seeing it, and another thing is that gamblling have varieties, someone that like casino kind of gamblling may not like to participate in lottery kind of gambling and also a poker kind of gambling or soccer gambling, so it's a game of specialty and personal interest.

Yes, our interests matter, this is about choice and what we want that would please us. I would say that playing the national lottery is not a bad thing, there is no big deal in it too as the money to play it are so low, and who knows, you might be the lucky winner one day. And you know what that means, it means that you might change your status for life with just a risk of a little amount of money.

The National Lottery is undoubtedly an opportunity. If the luck is very good then it is possible to win many unfulfilled dreams of life can be fulled by winning this lottery. The price of this lottery is relatively low but the prize is quite large. Winning such a lottery is not very common. Moreover, due to lack of publicity, people do not know much about the results or winners of this lottery. Due to which people are losing interest in it day by day. An advantage in gambling is when you are betting you are either getting a return or losing it all. People prefer gambling more than national lottery because of getting its results immediately.

I never trust National Lotteries, rather i do not trust any sort of lotteries. Some times i think that lotteries are just a way to collect money from the innocent gamblers.
In every lottery, there is a small contribution which you have to make in order to qualify in the lottery. People easily participate in these lotteries as they have to spent little money but the reward is enormous. However, most lotteries are fake and we never know if they were fairly rewarded.

[qwertyup23]

But the reality is, such lotteries usually have way worse odds than any casinos or gambling sites. So, mathematically speaking, you're better off gambling your money there.

Thoughts?

But millions of people choose to ignore or do not know this, all they know is this is their ticket to escape poverty and change their life, even if it's almost impossible to hit the jackpot, we also have a lottery here and we have 9 games held daily because we supported our lottery because it is government-run and the proceeds of the profit are being used by our government in the health sector and for social welfare.
I play the lotto often, and I know that it's almost impossible to hit the jackpot but I support our government-run lottery because of the benefits our poor people are getting.

I think this is more of testing one's luck given the amount of money a person can potentially win. Though you are right that the odds are worse, but imagine that if you hit the jackpot, this could definitely alter wholly your lifestyle and make big changes within the whole family.

Again, I doubt that it is a waste of time given that the amount of money being wagered is not that huge compared to normal gambling. Plus, everyone can participate in this kind of venture and not call themselves as "gamblers" unlike if you actually visit a casino and bet huge amounts.

[Hispo]

At least with casinos and gambling in general, one can prepare oneself mentally into having low expectations and just trying to enjoy the thrill and entertainment of a normal gambling session. National Lotteries are different, the entertainment factor is almost non-existent in my opinion and one could argue it is mostly about the expectation of profit. Obviously, the odds are microscopic.

I do not completely dislike lotteries but I would not buy tickets. In my eyes it is a kind of a waste of money.

[BobK71]

We can not conclude or take decision to some people the way I'm seeing it, so i believe that gamblling is a game of choice and interest, some people doesn't like playing lottery kind of game the way I'm seeing it, and another thing is that gamblling have varieties, someone that like casino kind of gamblling may not like to participate in lottery kind of gambling and also a poker kind of gambling or soccer gambling, so it's a game of specialty and personal interest.

Yes, our interests matter, this is about choice and what we want that would please us. I would say that playing the national lottery is not a bad thing, there is no big deal in it too as the money to play it are so low, and who knows, you might be the lucky winner one day. And you know what that means, it means that you might change your status for life with just a risk of a little amount of money.

The National Lottery is undoubtedly an opportunity. If the luck is very good then it is possible to win many unfulfilled dreams of life can be fulled by winning this lottery. The price of this lottery is relatively low but the prize is quite large. Winning such a lottery is not very common. Moreover, due to lack of publicity, people do not know much about the results or winners of this lottery. Due to which people are losing interest in it day by day. An advantage in gambling is when you are betting you are either getting a return or losing it all. People prefer gambling more than national lottery because of getting its results immediately.

I never trust National Lotteries, rather i do not trust any sort of lotteries. Some times i think that lotteries are just a way to collect money from the innocent gamblers.
In every lottery, there is a small contribution which you have to make in order to qualify in the lottery. People easily participate in these lotteries as they have to spent little money but the reward is enormous. However, most lotteries are fake and we never know if they were fairly rewarded.

People's trust in lottery is very low while expectations are high. I have purchased such lotteries several times in my life where I won nothing. When i bought that lottery, assumed i would win but finally get nothing. I bought it because of a hidden interest in my mind. But now I haven't bought any kind of lottery for a long time now and i won't buy again in the future. I know that buying the lottery is a waste of money and time as well.

[tjtonmoy]

I used to buy lottery in small events and festivals. Hoping to win something in the process. But my luck was never that good to get me a prize from those. You need to be super lucky in order to win one. After all those years of joining those lotteries and never managed to win one had made me feel like that this ain't it. I am not supposed to win any, and these are not meant for me.
I haven't bought any lottery for like 4/5 years. I don't see any profit from it, so it's better to avoid it at all cost.

[darkangel11]

Oh, I see I'm in the majority (voted never). Good to know people don't get caught up in these games.
They're a waste of time. Your chances of winning are like those of you getting hit by a lightning twice
The way lotteries are made you get lured in by a very high win and a very low cost of a ticket and in your mind this makes it a good deal. It takes advantage of people who can't do math.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Oh, I see I'm in the majority (voted never). Good to know people don't get caught up in these games.
They're a waste of time. Your chances of winning are like those of you getting hit by a lightning twice
The way lotteries are made you get lured in by a very high win and a very low cost of a ticket and in your mind this makes it a good deal. It takes advantage of people who can't do math.

Absolutely correct, majority of people that play lotteries do so because the reward is always high when compared to the amount of money they are to put in, but they tend to forget that their odd of winning as well is extremely low.
Those who benefit the most from lotteries are the organizers and them alone, i personally think lotteries are just a way to rip gamblers off, though gamblers dont spend much, but when we calculate the amount of money collectively contributed by the players to the lottery pot, you know that the organizers are indeed the ones making all the money.

[Ojima-ojo]

Oh, I see I'm in the majority (voted never). Good to know people don't get caught up in these games.
They're a waste of time. Your chances of winning are like those of you getting hit by a lightning twice
The way lotteries are made you get lured in by a very high win and a very low cost of a ticket and in your mind this makes it a good deal. It takes advantage of people who can't do math.

Absolutely correct, majority of people that play lotteries do so because the reward is always high when compared to the amount of money they are to put in, but they tend to forget that their odd of winning as well is extremely low.
Those who benefit the most from lotteries are the organizers and them alone, i personally think lotteries are just a way to rip gamblers off, though gamblers dont spend much, but when we calculate the amount of money collectively contributed by the players to the lottery pot, you know that the organizers are indeed the ones making all the money.

That is why it is called a lottery and the reward is not expected to be small, it should be something life changing otherwise is can be referred to as the lottery.

Sometimes, the lottery is also referred to as the jackpot which points to how high the rewaeds are, sometimes it involves 100 million dollars.

So such a huge amount is not easy to come by that is why casinos are constantly manipulating the system to let it favour the house over tickets.

[Dunamisx]

Playing lottery is a choice to make individually because i see now that gamblers don't go into that so much as before due to the slerk chances of winning, they believe much in sport or casino betting because one determines what he sees as outcome by himself than having unassured several attempts on lottery which may seems to them as a waste of time, those that seek for this kind of game are mostly the newbies in gambling that will want to have a starting point from somewhere.

[pawel7777]

Imagine, playing for at least $1 a day can still be big money for the whole year, what more to other better who are spending a lot for many years already.

Some people gamble away a lot of money in a regular casino, unless they are winning quite often. Summing up their losses, it's a lot of money in a year. This lottery is a waste of time, but they allow the low-class gamblers to bet with a very small amount. There is one lottery company in my country that allows people to bet with as little as $0.05. I tried it once, but that was also my last time. Gambling is just what it is; at the end of the year, gamblers lose quite a lot of money if summed up, even without realizing it.

Most people are not satisfied with their lives and they need some sort of hope for the future to keep going and to prevent themselves from turning into crime, falling into depression etc. However messed-up your life might be, there's still hope that buying a cheap lottery ticket could potentially turn you into a millionaire (or even a billionaire) overnight. That's a powerful tool

How about you see it from a different angle? Most people are so unfortunate, and life is so unfair to them. No matter how hard they try, things seem not working out for them. To protect themselves from immorality and illegality, they go into cheap lottery games with the hope of winning a jackpot that can turn their lives around. Like you said, most are not satisfied with their lives; that's correct, but also many don't even have anything to make them satisfied; they beg to feed; they depend 100% on others to survive; and they are under other bad circumstances. They just look for a way to break through those unforseen circumstances, and all they think of is buying cheap lottery tickets in the hope of winning the jackpot.

I fail to see how's that angle any different.
What I wrote was not a critic of people who are not (fully) satisfied with their lives, nor did I say it's their own fault. Whatever the reason is, the point still stands, lotteries are useful tools to sell hope to the masses and to help maintain order in society.

But if you want to go there - allowing yourself of having a victim mentality (aka "it's never not my fault, it's because of XYZ") you are doomed to fail. You're wiring your brain into looking for excuses and rationalising your shortcomings, instead of taking up initiative and trying to take control of your life.

[blockman]

I rarely bet on it but I get to see the updates of it from time to time on how much is the jackpot every time no one has won the combination of numbers.
Actually, it's an exciting thing these days because of how huge the pool and the jackpot is. Still, I'm not encouraged to bet on it because of how low my esteem I am and lost enthusiasm for it. I can't imagine myself winning that big and the chances are really low so, I just let the others bet on it and just waiting for someone or a group of people to hit the lucky numbers.

[Desmong]

Playing lottery is not really my thing because it can be very hard to win because the house has the power to decide what game is going to win and what game is not going to win. This is why I prefer sport bets that national lottery that can be very difficult to win. There are some people who enjoy it but for me, I don't see myself winning.

[Crypto Library]

I usually don't play much lottery but in my personal view I will also not call it waste of time or smart.
I see it as a normality like other gambling, because I think that gambling is completely dependent on luck, so lottery is also completely dependent on luck so I will not compare it between waste of time or smart. Because if it is a waste of time then other gambling will be the same in my view.

[Slow death]

I don't play the lottery because, despite the price of the lottery ticket being very cheap, I keep thinking about the following: I buy 1 lottery ticket and I'm counting on luck to win, but in terms of the probability of that happening, they are very low , but people who have a lot of money and buy 1000 lottery tickets have much greater chances of winning and they are not cheating because nothing prevents them from buying a lot of tickets, at that time I think that people with a lot of money will win

because as they buy a lot of tickets then their chances of winning increases a lot, and as they have several trades even if they don't win anything the next day some of their trades will give them a big profit that will cover the money they will spend when they buy a ticket, that's a cycle where the guys with the most money are the winners

That's why people with little money buy tickets and keep saying they're waiting for luck, because they know that the rich have already bought many tickets and that they can count on a lot of advantage. I don't see any advantage in buying lottery tickets, the lottery itself is a game that I don't like, I don't like games that depend on luck, in the casino I just prefer sports betting

[Fredomago]

Playing lottery is a choice to make individually because i see now that gamblers don't go into that so much as before due to the slerk chances of winning, they believe much in sport or casino betting because one determines what he sees as outcome by himself than having unassured several attempts on lottery which may seems to them as a waste of time, those that seek for this kind of game are mostly the newbies in gambling that will want to have a starting point from somewhere.

Individual opinion and we all know that explanations will be different from each gamblers who takes it and those who don't, me personally, I don't take that kind of gamble not a fan of huge luck but who among us is not interested with huge millions? I bet there's none, but again, it will be depending on how you take your luck and how you want to spend your money.

I rarely bet on it but I get to see the updates of it from time to time on how much is the jackpot every time no one has won the combination of numbers.
Actually, it's an exciting thing these days because of how huge the pool and the jackpot is. Still, I'm not encouraged to bet on it because of how low my esteem I am and lost enthusiasm for it. I can't imagine myself winning that big and the chances are really low so, I just let the others bet on it and just waiting for someone or a group of people to hit the lucky numbers.

The jackpot is enticing nothing but hope that luck will back you up when you buy the ticket, but likewise, the winning chance is to slim with so many people around the place that also hoping with that same luck and the lucky combinations are rarely to combine correctly. It's lottery and your winning chance is lower than how you expect..

[decodx]

Well, deciding whether or not to play the lottery comes down to how you define "smart". If your goal is to become a millionaire overnight with minimal effort, then playing the lottery might not be the most effective strategy. But if you're looking for a little bit of harmless fun and the chance to dream big, then go for it! Just keep in mind that the odds of winning the jackpot are pretty slim, so don't bet the farm on it. While many people say that the lottery is a waste of money, others tell you that hundreds of millions of dollars are up for grabs each and every day. It's all about knowing why you're doing things, rather than just following them blindly because someone else said to do them. As for me, I will be playing at least a few dollars when I can spare it from my other hobbies, because I believe that it's harmless fun and helps jog my dreams a little bit.