I think a lot of it is instant gratification, and they also "win" a lot. The odds of getting any prize are pretty good, but what you usually get is the ticket price back, and then people dump it right back in. I wouldn't sell lottery if I had a store. I'm ambivalent about gambling in general, but I really don't like state lotteries.
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Burnham
Woods walker
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
50 is for a toothpick 
... because somewhat, I think a lot about teeth lately!
... because somewhat, I think a lot about teeth lately!
Knotorious
That Guy With The Face
The tragic reality about the lottery is that a) the vast majority of people who play the lottery are poor (middle, and certainly upper class, do not play the lottery nearly as much or at all; this is actual statistics) and b) the vast majority of stores that sell lottery tickets are located in lower income areas. Those "in the know" are acutely aware of how terrible the odds are with scratch tickets and with all lottery games in general. As a result, the lottery has been proven to make poor people poorer and to generate obsessive and compulsive gambling addictions in many who play.
I played the lottery once when I was 18 years old to celebrate becoming of legal age to gamble. I bought 50 x $1 scratch tickets and walked away with a profit of $175. I redeemed my tickets and collected my prize money and never played the lottery ever again. Why? Because the anxiety I felt over potentially losing money was far greater than any excitement over potentially hitting it big. It felt like a huge mistake; one that I happened to get lucky winning on.
I feel like the lottery should be forced to make the odds of each game blatantly obvious by printing it in large font on the top of each ticket. It would be similar to how big tobacco companies are now legally obligated to print the dangerous health risks associated with smoking on each and every pack of cigarettes. This subtle step might make a dent in the issue of gambling addiction by deterring people from ever reaching that stage. However, it's certainly not going to solve the problem.
Those are my thoughts.
I played the lottery once when I was 18 years old to celebrate becoming of legal age to gamble. I bought 50 x $1 scratch tickets and walked away with a profit of $175. I redeemed my tickets and collected my prize money and never played the lottery ever again. Why? Because the anxiety I felt over potentially losing money was far greater than any excitement over potentially hitting it big. It felt like a huge mistake; one that I happened to get lucky winning on.
I feel like the lottery should be forced to make the odds of each game blatantly obvious by printing it in large font on the top of each ticket. It would be similar to how big tobacco companies are now legally obligated to print the dangerous health risks associated with smoking on each and every pack of cigarettes. This subtle step might make a dent in the issue of gambling addiction by deterring people from ever reaching that stage. However, it's certainly not going to solve the problem.
Those are my thoughts.
I don't think warnings really work. If they understood statistics, they wouldn't be playing in the first place. The cigarette warning I always liked was one saying it contained carbon monoxide. Anyone that doesn't understand cigarettes are unhealthy will have no idea what the implication of containing carbon monoxide is.
edit:
Oh, and ProTip: Go to the ghetto, and check around the outside of liquor stores. Pickup all the discarded tickets, and you'll probably get some winners. The players are functionally illiterate and/or stoned, so they can't comprehend what's on the card, and throw it out. Most I "won" was a $10 card I think. I didn't specifically go to the ghetto per se, but gas stations in or near the ghetto were profitable.
edit:
Oh, and ProTip: Go to the ghetto, and check around the outside of liquor stores. Pickup all the discarded tickets, and you'll probably get some winners. The players are functionally illiterate and/or stoned, so they can't comprehend what's on the card, and throw it out. Most I "won" was a $10 card I think. I didn't specifically go to the ghetto per se, but gas stations in or near the ghetto were profitable.
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Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
I buy a scratcher now and then. Not enough to even worry about.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
One time I found a dime on the carpet next to a slot machine. WTF? I run it, and hit a jackpot.
I did not go to gamble. Just looking for a friend who was working in the casino. My lucky day.
I did not go to gamble. Just looking for a friend who was working in the casino. My lucky day.
I went to meet a buddy after work to get paid once, he was at a local burger joint but went home to get his kids and get changed, I didn't realize he changed so I didn't know who he was, well i'm standing there at the door looking around, waiter walks up and says "booth or table, how many?" me: "oh i'm just looking for a guy that owes me some money"
I gotta think before I talk, almost had the cops called on me for that one!
Treeaddict
Treehouser
How are your teeth? Prognosis?50 is for a toothpick
... because somewhat, I think a lot about teeth lately!
BlackSmith
Uncivil
gf beranek
Old Schooler
What a moron.
Kaveman
Treehouser
As a former greenskeeper, this is the best you could hope for. Running on to my course is probably a death penalty, if I didn't hit you with the mower, some geriatric would nail you with a Titleist!
flushcut
TreeHouser
This is how we roll in Wisco folks, we have cow tipping and now outhouse tipping.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Kaveman
Treehouser
Angles matter...
BlackSmith
Uncivil
The angle of the dangle must correspond with the mass of the ass.
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