Why do people play the lottery?

[Thrif-t]

Let me preface this by saying I never play the lotto expect for the occasional when the pot gets so big everyone gets in. And then I only buy 1 ticket cause it only takes 1 ticket to win! But I have a an older friend who plays her pick 3 numbers every day! She does win roughly 3 or 4 times a year and she'll get so excited to win her 40.50 or 86. I made the mistake one time of asking her if she keeps track what she spends vs what she wins to see if she makes out. Yikes don't ever do that, you'll get your head chewed off But this same friend has taken to putting a couple of scratch off tickets in my birthday card every year. And I gotta admit it's fun. I get so excited when I win $2 and can cash that ticket in for a couple of more, of course they're always losers.

So I've taken to putting a couple of scratch off in my kids Christmas stockings and older nieces and nephew's birthday cards. My DD won $5 on her Christmas scratch off and my nephew won $12 on his birthday scratch off. Not bad for a $1 investment. As long as you're playing once in a while for fun, I don't see a problem with it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Some others;


Below is a 25 cent Cleopatra keno bonus (2008 quarters = $502)

[disneysteve]

But this same friend has taken to putting a couple of scratch off tickets in my birthday card every year. And I gotta admit it's fun.

I have a patient who gives us all lottery tickets every year at the holidays. I greatly appreciate her thinking enough of us to give us gifts, and I always thank her accordingly, but I hate that she gives the lottery tickets. Obviously I know exactly how much she spends - she gives me $20 worth of instant tickets. I have never won more than $4 from any of her gifts. Yes, I realize there is the potential for more, but the reality for numerous years now has been $2 or $4 actually realized. I just see it as a huge waste. Rather than giving me a $2 gift, she could have given me a $20 gift at no additional cost. Buy me a gift card instead. At least you know it's worth what you paid for it.

[cardtrick]

It buys you a few hours/days of dreaming about becoming filthy rich. I play whenever the pot is > $200 million. Only powerball or megamillions. I don't gamble in the casinos although the gf loves to. Every time we're on vacation, she blows about $20 or so. I find slots/cards to be very boring.

[marvholly]

The last time I played the lottery was spring 2003. I played because:

oldest daughter called to say whe would cook for the upcoming holiday so I did not need to
I won an auction for a cruise that would have cost me 3x as much

After such a winning day, how could I lose on my $1 investment. P>S> I DID lose.

[susainelewis]

They are just trying their luck. Playing lottery is not a waste of time, it's just a part of playing some of their luck!

[JoeP]

People generally have a hard time understanding large numbers. As someone what a trilliom dollars looks like, and you'll get answers all over the spectrum, or blank stares. It gets compounded with odds. A bet of a hundred to one odds is a bad bet, yet people play odds much worse. Yeah, I get the "entertainment" factor, and maybe playing long odds is considered "entertainment" by some.

It is easy to play the lottery, but hard to win. It is hard to have financial discipline and long-term thinking to save for retirement, but the outcome (or failure) can be life-changing.

[disneysteve]

People generally have a hard time understanding large numbers.

I'm always amused when the news goes and interviews people waiting to buy lottery tickets when there's a huge jackpot. They ask them what they'll do with the money if they win. The typical responses are buy a new car, buy a new house, go on a cruise, etc. Basically, things that might cost a grand total of $1 million. But the jackpot is $250 million. What will they do with the other $249 million? Most people have absolutely no idea what to do or how to handle that kind of money. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with it (but I wouldn't mind having to figure it out ).

[ua_guy]

I'm always amused when the news goes and interviews people waiting to buy lottery tickets when there's a huge jackpot. They ask them what they'll do with the money if they win. The typical responses are buy a new car, buy a new house, go on a cruise, etc. Basically, things that might cost a grand total of $1 million. But the jackpot is $250 million. What will they do with the other $249 million? Most people have absolutely no idea what to do or how to handle that kind of money. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with it (but I wouldn't mind having to figure it out ).

That's exactly it--Bankrupcy filings for people who have won the lotto are disproportionately high. Most of them had no idea how to manage money before winning; and they didn't learn how to manage money after winning, either.

Especially on smaller pots of money, people are poor judges when trying to scale an affordable lifestyle without any outside help. Few people realize that a lot of "rich" people actually live relatively frugal lives.

[JoeP]

That's exactly it--Bankrupcy filings for people who have won the lotto are disproportionately high. Most of them had no idea how to manage money before winning; and they didn't learn how to manage money after winning, either.

Especially on smaller pots of money, people are poor judges when trying to scale an affordable lifestyle without any outside help. Few people realize that a lot of "rich" people actually live relatively frugal lives.

This goes hand-in-hand with the thinking that "money will make my life so much easier/better." Having an extra $10k in one's pocket can have an immediate positive effect for most: it can pay down credit card debt, provide the means to move to another location, seed retirement investments, etc. All except for those who have no financial knowledge, this could turn lives around. It is not too hard to conclude that handing that person millions would create all kinds of new problems that person is not equipped to handle.