Lottery

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Chris Spaghetti

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Lottery
« on: March 18, 2011, 07:33:27 AM »
I am one of two or three people in my office who doesn't  spend ?1-3 a week in the office syndicate (of about 10 people) as I don't believe in wasting the money chasing astronomical odds.

When people tried to to the 'got to be in it it to win it' argument, I signed up for one week with the numbers 10,11,12,13,14,15 (Only because 1,2,3,4,5,6 are the most popular numbers) and was berated because "Those numbers will never come up!" I tried to prove they have just as much liklihood as 1,45,23,12,9,33.

Do you play the lottery? On your own or as part of a syndicate? If so, why?

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Benocrates

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2011, 07:40:55 AM »
I fucking hate the lottery because it takes advantage of the poor and hopeful. My mom plays it every month or something and I really feel bad about it. I've tried to point out the hillariously low odds of winning, and comparing it to other odds, but the irrationality is indefatigable.

Here's an accurate lottery simulator. Notice at the bottom it tells you how much you've lost and how much you've won. http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/poker/megamillions.php
Quote from: President Barack Obama
Pot had helped
Get the fuck over it.

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WardoggKC130FE

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2011, 08:01:41 AM »
I liked your link.  It was interesting. 

Question, this is a computer program "random number" generator though, which if I understand it correctly can't really be random because its a program.  Does using the actual balls in the container rolling around and getting selected by vacuum pressure change the randomness odds?

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Benocrates

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2011, 08:08:31 AM »
good question, but I don't have an answer other than probably, but not significantly. However, I failed stats twice in high school, so I'm no authority. 
Quote from: President Barack Obama
Pot had helped
Get the fuck over it.

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Chris Spaghetti

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2011, 08:18:33 AM »
I would think that it would only really affect the odds if you knew what the algorithm used was.

For most intents and purposes I don't think it would make a difference

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EnigmaZV

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2011, 08:55:08 AM »
Often they don't let the balls tumble long enough for the selection to be completely random.  If you plotted the numbers by frequency over time, you'd see that the odds are slightly in favour of certain numbers over others.
I don't know what you're implying, but you're probably wrong.

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berny_74

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2011, 08:58:32 AM »
I play the Max Millions when it hits 50+ million.
All the time I think what I could do with that money - and the chances are even more astronomical if you do not play.  Then again I often do no spend money on other things and can save there.

Both my locations of work are in walking distance - I live in a downtown area so I have absolutely no requirements for any transportation costs.  I work in restaurants so 1/2 my meals are paid for.

Berny
Won 2 coffees and a donut with Roll up the Rim at Timmies
To be fair, sometimes what FE'ers say makes so little sense that it's hard to come up with a rebuttal.
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Space Cowgirl

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2011, 10:16:23 AM »
One of my cousins won a couple hundred thousand dollars about three years ago playing the lottery.  I still don't play, I just can't be bothered with it.
I'm sorry. Am I to understand that when you have a boner you like to imagine punching the shit out of Tom Bishop? That's disgusting.

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Ski

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2011, 12:20:58 PM »
I only play in office pools -- and only because I would hate myself if they did manage to somehow win big money and I was one of the few jackasses that did not get a cut.
"Never think you can turn over any old falsehood without a terrible squirming of the horrid little population that dwells under it." -O.W. Holmes "Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.."

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hoppy

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2011, 12:30:32 PM »
 It is fun for me play a couple of times a year when the jackpots are huge. Probably most of their money is made off of poor people, standing in line at the corner liquor store, or 7-11. I think it would be better if they stopped lotteries.
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Colonel Gaydafi

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2011, 06:54:41 PM »
I play sometimes when the pot is a bit bigger. My dad says its a tax on the stupid so I figure I ought to pay my taxes. Also I won a whopping 50 euros once, woohoo!
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Trekky0623

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2011, 07:04:31 PM »
My aunt used to play the lottery extensively. Never won big. It is truly a waste of time and money.

Anyway, about random numbers, in a ten-digit series, there is a 62% chance that two numbers next to each other will be the same.

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General Disarray

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2011, 07:15:02 PM »
I bought a couple tickets around my 18th birthday just because I could, but I probably won't ever again.
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Tom Bishop

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2011, 07:27:17 PM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

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Tausami

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2011, 07:39:10 PM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

There are better ways than stealing from the poor.

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sillyrob

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #15 on: March 18, 2011, 07:42:53 PM »
I worked at a gas station for a little over a year, and the most I ever saw someone win was $500, though I guess we did sell a $10,000 winner. I didn't see the winner though.

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Tom Bishop

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #16 on: March 18, 2011, 09:55:03 PM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

There are better ways than stealing from the poor.

The lottery is probably one of the more ethical and least socially damaging forms of gambling.

In Vegas people regularly lose their life savings and the shirts off their back. Trips to Vegas regularly end with people throwing themselves off of buildings.

I haven't heard of many suicides or broken families after playing the lottery.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2011, 09:57:17 PM by Tom Bishop »

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parsec

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #17 on: March 18, 2011, 09:58:10 PM »
I liked your link.  It was interesting. 

Question, this is a computer program "random number" generator though, which if I understand it correctly can't really be random because its a program.  Does using the actual balls in the container rolling around and getting selected by vacuum pressure change the randomness odds?

Yes, it does. In fact, most pseudorandom number generators fail statistical tests of uniformity:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDQQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.33.7905%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&rct=j&q=pseudorandom%20number%20statistics%20test&ei=UjeETfmGIYb8tgeTnLWwBA&usg=AFQjCNFJ5sIr0oA-7PIz2a1p5IT1cDKFtA&cad=rja

Re: Lottery
« Reply #18 on: March 18, 2011, 11:04:04 PM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

There are better ways than stealing from the poor.
How is it stealing?  Last I checked playing the lotto was optional.

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PizzaPlanet

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #19 on: March 19, 2011, 09:26:48 AM »
I'm with Tom on this one. It's not like you spend mega money on the lottery (well, if/when you do spend it at all). It might be a waste, but then again, so is a can of Coke, bar of chocolate, new t-shirt, or anything we don't really need.
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sillyrob

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2011, 10:09:59 AM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

There are better ways than stealing from the poor.

The lottery is probably one of the more ethical and least socially damaging forms of gambling.

In Vegas people regularly lose their life savings and the shirts off their back. Trips to Vegas regularly end with people throwing themselves off of buildings.

I haven't heard of many suicides or broken families after playing the lottery.
Actually, I've read more accounts of people's lives being harder after winning the lottery, not playing it.

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Tausami

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2011, 10:12:34 PM »
What do you guys have against giving people hopes and dreams?

There are better ways than stealing from the poor.

The lottery is probably one of the more ethical and least socially damaging forms of gambling.

In Vegas people regularly lose their life savings and the shirts off their back. Trips to Vegas regularly end with people throwing themselves off of buildings.

I haven't heard of many suicides or broken families after playing the lottery.

I prefer intrade.

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vhu9644

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #22 on: March 20, 2011, 01:05:06 AM »
well, no such thing as "true randomness" exists.  there is no way to get a perfectly random result.  the random number generator, is a function, and it will give you the same number unless you set time as null, but even then, it is not true randomness.  the balls spinning around falling down is not random at all, and if you knew the motion of each ball, you could (theorectically) predict you numbers

i miss pizza's old pic

i dont play the lottery, and i probably wont, unless the pot is enormously huge.  but then again, you chances are in like, 1 in 18 million
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General Disarray

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2011, 08:09:18 PM »
You probably have the lowest chance of winning when the pot is largest.
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vhu9644

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2011, 12:56:37 AM »
my chance stays the same. the probablility of my numbers getting picked are not related to pot size
people i respect: Ski, Oracle, PizzaPlanet, Wendy

Re: Lottery
« Reply #25 on: March 21, 2011, 01:34:38 AM »
I play the euromillions when the jackpot is high.

I've never understood this "tax on the poor" line, as if poor automatically means stupid! Do you think that "poor" people don't understand the odds? Do you think that if the lottery didn't exist they'd take that money and invest it wisely in a ISA or something? Or maybe they'd play the upper class lottery, there's a few of them FTSE, NASDAQ etc... More people lost money on these lotteries than all the others put together.


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PizzaPlanet

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #26 on: March 21, 2011, 02:24:05 AM »
my chance stays the same. the probablility of my numbers getting picked are not related to pot size
Quoted for truth
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General Disarray

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #27 on: March 21, 2011, 08:09:04 AM »
my chance stays the same. the probablility of my numbers getting picked are not related to pot size

It is, however, related to the number of people buying tickets, which increases when the pot is larger.
You don't want to make an enemy of me. I'm very powerful.

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berny_74

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #28 on: March 21, 2011, 08:24:36 AM »
my chance stays the same. the probablility of my numbers getting picked are not related to pot size

It is, however, related to the number of people buying tickets, which increases when the pot is larger.

So the chances are not less - the pot will be shared amongst more people.
Thats why I like Lotta Max - when it hits the 50 million mark they pull out extra sets for 1 million apiece.

Most I've won is 123 :(

Berny
Still better than wasting it on alcohol.

To be fair, sometimes what FE'ers say makes so little sense that it's hard to come up with a rebuttal.
Moonlight is good for you.

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vhu9644

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Re: Lottery
« Reply #29 on: March 21, 2011, 08:56:08 PM »
my chance stays the same. the probablility of my numbers getting picked are not related to pot size

It is, however, related to the number of people buying tickets, which increases when the pot is larger.

my winning chance isnt related to number to people buying tickets, the chance of winning all of it, however, goes down.
people i respect: Ski, Oracle, PizzaPlanet, Wendy