Is playing national lottery smart or waste of time?

[Jemzx00]

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.

Exactly, it might be useless or worthless for some but not to all since it doesn't really cost that much to bet on a lottery, and other than the winning jackpot, you can also have a chance of getting what you've paid for if you'll be hitting some of the numbers on it. I don't always play the lottery, but I sometimes do and it's a great feeling knowing you can be an instant millionaire if you ever win these things. Also, I doubt that people don't really know their chances when playing these but rather they just hope for once-in-lifetime luck on the lottery.

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[bitterguy28]

it is not just waste of time but also waste of money and expectation , the feeling of being expecting for nothing? this will come eventually when you finally realized that you are betting for nothing to impossible .

I rarely bet in Lottery but yeah sometimes I am also one of those fool who wanted to be a instant millionaire lol .

[Hispo]

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I rarely bet in Lottery but yeah sometimes I am also one of those fool who wanted to be a instant millionaire lol .

I once met a person who used to buy lottery tickets and had expectations, that is the worst kind of lottery player, in my opinion.
He wanted money, he did it for money and continued to spent money, as far as I know he never earned any money from a jackpot. He could have done better by rolling dices, if he wanted.

In the end, someone who regularly plays the lottery and never wins ends up losing an amount of money that could have been invested in a different way. Even playing bingo sounds more entertaining and social.

[btc78]

Rarely I am , My grandfather use to let me bet for Him as he had a harder walking so since he is a regular bettor then I do it for him till time comes that i love doing this on my own after He left us.

but now as I understand that he bet lottery for many decades and never become a jackpot winner? i realized that if I gather all those amount for that long? maybe I will become a millionaire for taking my money inside my pocket than giving to lottery outlets .

[kotajikikox]

If we are doing this just to try our luck once in a while? then I think we are not spending anything but small money but excessing our luck.

But if we are depending our life in this  chance of a life time and spending more than what it must ? then yes you are wasting your time and money and better stop it before losing more than what you can afford and also losing your future in betterment .

[wxa7115]

Topic and poll inspired by another thread - question:

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

My view on big, often state-owned lotteries is they're designed mainly for 2 reasons: to make a profit and as a social tool that sells dreams of instant life change and massive wealth to the masses to keep them in line.

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.

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?

It is true that the odds of lotteries are terrible and it would make more sense to play any other game instead, however lotteries are very easy and passive to play unlike a game like poker in which you need to be highly involved so it is understandable that for some this is their favorite form of gambling.

And without a doubt the main motivator is the fact that if you just happen to be lucky your life will change forever as the profits are massive compared to your bet, personally I am not a fan but I will admit that I buy a ticket or two per year when the prize money is very high.

[autumnleaf]

Although I have never played the lottery or engaged in any gambling, I share everyone else's desire to win a million dollars right away. My father used to play the lottery, but he rarely won the grand prize. I explained to him that you can buy the accumulated money you bet from the lottery with something that generates passive income, but all he said was, "What if I get lucky and win the jackpot?" Now I see why individuals want to play the lottery because they enjoy the sense of having a possibility to win.

[Haunebu]

Am not really interested in such crazy lotteries since I have way more fun betting on sports where skill helps to a degree and casino games like Baccarat which have a way, way lower house edge in comparison.

Getting rich overnight is not exactly something that I crave, but would obviously love it if it actually happens to me sometime in the future.

[davis196]

My view on big, often state-owned lotteries is they're designed mainly for 2 reasons: to make a profit and as a social tool that sells dreams of instant life change and massive wealth to the masses to keep them in line.

I don't agree with this.
1.The government-owned lottery in my country is using a big part of it's revenue to fund national sports federations, not to make profits.
Many state-owned lotteries are using their revenue for charity projects or funding local theathers.
2.The "dream selling" part is done mostly by the casinos/sports betting platforms in the private gambling sector. From my point of view, the national state-owned lotteries aren't as good at marketing, in comparison to the private sector.
Perhaps the second reason for the existence of state-owned lotteries is that they keep a lot of people away from the more addictive forms of gambling. After all, lottery gambling is way more harmless than wasting your money in a casino and becoming a gambling addict.

[Fredomago]

Although I have never played the lottery or engaged in any gambling, I share everyone else's desire to win a million dollars right away. My father used to play the lottery, but he rarely won the grand prize. I explained to him that you can buy the accumulated money you bet from the lottery with something that generates passive income, but all he said was, "What if I get lucky and win the jackpot?" Now I see why individuals want to play the lottery because they enjoy the sense of having a possibility to win.

They share the same mindset of "what if", the kind of positivity that those people who keep buying lottery tickets and seek for that huge luck to win the jackpot. I mean, we all know that it's next to impossible if we will think differently, but since that there are people who got that lucky combination and win that huge pot.

People who wanted to experience that same luck will continue to chase and keep buying in the hope that they will get that winning combination and they will wake up being a millionaire.

[pawel7777]

My view on big, often state-owned lotteries is they're designed mainly for 2 reasons: to make a profit and as a social tool that sells dreams of instant life change and massive wealth to the masses to keep them in line.

I don't agree with this.
1.The government-owned lottery in my country is using a big part of it's revenue to fund national sports federations, not to make profits.
Many state-owned lotteries are using their revenue for charity projects or funding local theathers.
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If the lottery is profitable and state owns it - the profits go to the government. Nothing incorrect here.
By "profit" I obviously didn't mean a distributable profit (as we see with private companies) that politicians could divide among themselves, but an income to the overall government owned funds. So by definition, all government "profits" should (at least in theory) go to good causes that are worth of public funding. You seem to automatically give the word "profit" some negative connotation for some reason.

The other angle is: the money is fungible, so it shouldn't really matter if any specific project is funded from the tax money or from lottery money. At the end of the day, it's funded by a public (government) funds. The reason they'd specifically assign lottery profits to charitable causes - is primarily to make people feel better about gambling on lottery, buy more tickets and therefore increase its profitability.

In short - I'm not saying that there's anything wrong in making profits from lotteries. I'd much rather have that than increased taxes. But it is what it is - they're selling a product that offers way less value for money than what other forms of gambling are offering.

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2.The "dream selling" part is done mostly by the casinos/sports betting platforms in the private gambling sector. From my point of view, the national state-owned lotteries aren't as good at marketing, in comparison to the private sector.
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And yet, there are more lottery players than other gamblers, by order of magnitude.
If the main reason for the people to participate is not the dream of getting rich - than what is it? Are they doing it mainly to sponsor good causes? Then why not just donate directly and save whole lot of money on the middle man and all the lottery-running costs? If you take the lottery away - what portion of participants would actually do that?

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Perhaps the second reason for the existence of state-owned lotteries is that they keep a lot of people away from the more addictive forms of gambling. After all, lottery gambling is way more harmless than wasting your money in a casino and becoming a gambling addict.

That's like saying let's give everyone a beer to prevent them from drinking stronger alcohol.

[pawel7777]

Although I have never played the lottery or engaged in any gambling, I share everyone else's desire to win a million dollars right away. My father used to play the lottery, but he rarely won the grand prize. I explained to him that you can buy the accumulated money you bet from the lottery with something that generates passive income, but all he said was, "What if I get lucky and win the jackpot?" Now I see why individuals want to play the lottery because they enjoy the sense of having a possibility to win.

They share the same mindset of "what if", the kind of positivity that those people who keep buying lottery tickets and seek for that huge luck to win the jackpot. I mean, we all know that it's next to impossible if we will think differently, but since that there are people who got that lucky combination and win that huge pot.

People who wanted to experience that same luck will continue to chase and keep buying in the hope that they will get that winning combination and they will wake up being a millionaire.

Just a fun fact - in the UK, there's something called Premium Bonds where, instead of earning fixed interest, they offer a chance of winning money prizes. Each £1 is a separate bond that represent an entry to monthly prize draws. The winnings are tax-free.

Essentially if you deposit a larger amount (say from £10k up), with an average luck you should get around 3% AR. Which is at roughly at par with with traditional short-term bonds or saving accounts.

This is a great alternative for those who buy lottery tickets to have at least theoretical chance of winning big. You could buy a min. of £25 worth of bonds and do nothing, you'd still have a chance of winning every month, but you don't actually lose your money (excluding inflation and opportunity cost that is).

A bit more details on how PB compare to National Lottery:

https://www.themoneyedit.com/banking/savings/premium-bonds-vs-lottery-which-will-make-me-millionaire

Your chance of winning the jackpot on the National Lottery is one in 45 million in a week, significantly beating the 1 in more than 59 billion chance of winning £1m per £1 bond in a single month.

Of course, you have to have the minimum £25 in Premium Bonds and the more bonds you have, the more chance you have of winning.

But your chance of winning the jackpot on the National Lottery (remember, one in 45 million in a week) is greater than if you have £100 in Premium Bonds (one in 49 million). Once you’ve got more than a few hundred pounds in Premium Bond, your chance of becoming a millionaire is much higher with premium bonds than the National Lottery.

Plus you'll keep the money you deposit, unlike buying a lottery ticket.

If you prefer certainty, a savings account is always the safest bet. Right now Nationwide offers 5% on balances up to £1,500 for the first 12 months of opening Nationwide FlexDirect Current Account(opens in new tab). That’s a guaranteed £75 if you put in the maximum amount for the entire year.

[jgaonkar]

I did believe that before the pandemic playing the lottery is a waste of time and money too.  However, since there was a lot of time for nothing to do I just saw “Dear Lottery Results”, on the web and noticed that people are winning crores every day.  I just came to know from the link that the dear Nagaland lottery can make you win Rs. 1 crore at a time.  on the other hand, they declare it 3 times a day of 1cr each. The good thing about this lottery is, it's very much legal and anyone can buy it offline and online mode also.  until now my luck took me to win Rs. 9000/- once i.e 2nd prize.   L:ets see in the future, but the opportunity is huge.   

[Gozie51]

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.

And what do you think will happen if already depressed or near depressed person pays a lottery ticket with high hope of winning and it turns out to be a failure? Lottery is same as gambling, it has no difference but just a type of gambling. As always the advise is not to put money that you can't bear the loss because when playing a lucky game you should know that you can lose all or you win and smile.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Playing national lottery comes with it own advantages since some gamblers considers it a thing they can get luck through within a short interval with less fund being involved, it also comes in diverse means whereby one can handle the requirements for it within a little time space and make something big from it, lottery and gambling both has the opportunity they serve with every possible chances to make a win even though their proportions may differs from each other and the two aren't a waste of time since an opportunity lies in doing them but with different chances to making it through.

[Yatsan]

I don't but I understand those who does simply because they just depend on their luck even if they are aware that winning on lotteries is close to impossible unless you are lucky enough. But for sure they are having fun from doing such 'coz if they don't they'd stop the moment they are sick of losing which happens most of the time and to most of the bettors. For me who is into other type of gambling games would percieve it as a waste of time but we just do have our own preferences; we gamble on different ways but are all having the same goal which is to win.

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.

And what do you think will happen if already depressed or near depressed person pays a lottery ticket with high hope of winning and it turns out to be a failure? Lottery is same as gambling, it has no difference but just a type of gambling. As always the advise is not to put money that you can't bear the loss because when playing a lucky game you should know that you can lose all or you win and smile.

Lotteries does not require that much of money unless you'd be computing all of your trials from it. Lottery is really a form of gambling in the first place. But unlike with the typical ones, a gambler won't be tempted to bet big time once, but continuously there's a difference I guess. The reason why many people are engaging into it is because of the low capital needed so I guess that won't hurt them as much as with poker and the likes.

[bitbollo]

I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life.
I consider it a waste of money, a vain hope, in short, something that "potentially gives the illusion of being able to win" but which on balance is really impossible to achieve... ok people like to dream but...

Many are inclined to gamble because they would like to change their lives, but statistically only a fraction manages to get a big result. If you count how many tickets are played and the number of people able to achieve a decent winning, you could realize how it is really impossible something like this.

I have found several news here in Italy about people not able to "handle these avalanches of money", and they have wasted big fortunes in a matters of a couple of years.

[ethereumhunter]

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.

And what do you think will happen if already depressed or near depressed person pays a lottery ticket with high hope of winning and it turns out to be a failure? Lottery is same as gambling, it has no difference but just a type of gambling. As always the advise is not to put money that you can't bear the loss because when playing a lucky game you should know that you can lose all or you win and smile.

The person must learn that buying the lottery will not guarantee he will win easily because many people will think the same way. And only luck can really help him to win that lottery prize. He should learn to buy lotteries just for fun and not think about whether he will win or lose. So he bought the lottery just for the fun factor that could change his life if he won. That will allow him to enjoy the trip to buy the lottery and who knows how many draws he can win later. And if he doesn't win it, he should learn to smile and say next time I can get that lottery prize.

[pawel7777]

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And what do you think will happen if already depressed or near depressed person pays a lottery ticket with high hope of winning and it turns out to be a failure? Lottery is same as gambling, it has no difference but just a type of gambling. As always the advise is not to put money that you can't bear the loss because when playing a lucky game you should know that you can lose all or you win and smile.

They buy another ticket? Even a homeless person can afford them once in a while.

But the point is not so much whether they actually win or lose. It's more about having that feeling that you "have something going on" in your life that has a potential of turning you're life around in an instant. I think that's what motivates lottery players the most. I don't expect any of them to actually have a serious expectation of winning a particular draw. It's just about that feeling of hope and + maybe some daydreaming of what will you do if you win. That itself has some serious potential of increasing resilience and lifting your mood up.

That's why I'm not against lotteries. I don't play them as I know the odds are just not there, but I think they have an overall positive impact on society (I could be wrong though).

[Hamphser]

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?

Odds are close to impossible which means that you do need all the luck of this world for you to be able to hit up the jackpot which is something that it is really hard or something that couldnt happen even if you do tend to buy up tickets for the rest of your life.If it wasnt really meant for you then hitting those combinations would really be not that something that you should hope for because it would really just make you
that annoyed or disappointed every draw results just because your number combinations didnt hit.Its not bad to spare up some amount for tickets but this is something that wont really be resulting into
huge spending where 1-2 tickets everyday wasnt that so bad but its up into yours.Mathematically speaking about odds then it would be understandable if you do make out some comparison.
Lesser risks then less money would be gained and vice versa.

it is understandable why based from the poll, most voted for never or almost never. as they know their chances, they are not spending money on this game. but there are people who are indeed betting on lotteries all throughout their lifetime, where they allot money on this game. they have certain numbers that they are always taking care of.
i guess, it is up to your preferences on this matter. most are just spending it to other basic needs. but for lottery patrons, they won't be considering this as a waste of money.

A waste of money is simple considered into those things which arent really that giving off any benefit and since lottery betting could really give out that chance of changing their lives on hitting up the jackpot then

you are definitely right on what you had said.There are indeed patrons who do really still keep betting even they do know the odds or chances of hitting the jackpot is almost close to impossible.
This is why just let those people do on whatever they do like or want basing up on the situation that they are in because we do have different interest and approach when it comes to certain things.
It might really be looking non so interesting on betting on lotteries and its not something  you could enjoy but cant really deny on the possible things to happen once you do hit the jackpot
but you would really be that discourage if we do know the chances are really that so slim.