Posted on 09/06/2008 11:10:08 PM PDT by brycemax
Critics of the lottery call it nothing more than a scam that sells hopes and dreams to the poor. Is this true? Does the lottery target the poor? See for yourself here in this installation of "Geeks on Caffeine." Note: The author requests that you visit his web site and refrain from pasting the cartoon within the thread. Thanks!
It’s a scam on the ignorant and stupid.
And there have been several instances where the payout has exceeded the odds, due to poor setups.
In one particular case, there was a lottery promotion whereby each day or week they’d pick a “bonus” number that would multiply the winnings. They didn’t pick it the first few weeks, and instead of randomly drawing each time they were cycling through the numbers, meaning the last iteration had to be it.
What it meant was that while the total payout for all weeks would be less than the cost of playing all combinations across all weeks, the night that the bonus number was picked would pay out several times the cost of playing every number. Since that bonus number had failed to come up, the last night became a lock.
Someone realized this, and with his buddies bought the 1000 or however many tickets needed to play all combinations. The guy said in the article he was paranoid they’d end up with everything but the winning combo, but in the end it worked.
Of course, a good leftwinger would point out that he unfairly used his basic math abilities to the detriment of those less fortunate in the IQ department who aren’t used to unfair lottery competition, and thus he should be penalized accordingly :-)
It does target the poor but which is a bad thing but it replaces some if not all of the mob run numbers rackets which is arguably a good thing.
when i was younger i worked in a convenience store. a customer (from the inner-city), on his way to the local casino, came in and said, “i have $3,000 in my pocket -and i’m going to blow it all at the casino.” i have never had a doubt in my mind that he achieved his goal.
Captain Obvious is around here somewhere...
The lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math.
And people think that’s fun? I don’t get it.
What’s the saying, ‘I spent most of my money on booze and women, and the rest I wasted.’
Some people have bad ideas about money. That’s why those “change machines” in grocery stores can get people to give up 8.9% of their money.
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