The lottery is a tax on the stupid…

Or my personal favourite… the lottery is a tax on the mathematically challenged.

Gosh, that’s so desperately witty.

This phrase has been abused by dull, smug people for years. Sadly, they think nobody will notice that they didn’t actually come up with the phrase.

If only there was a tax on the comically challenged.

For one, I don’t believe for a second that these witty geniuses have never played the lottery themselves. Or other games of chance.

Furthermore, nobody buys a lottery ticket as an investment. We don’t expect it to be worth millions.

Yes, we hope we will win. We dream that we will hit the jackpot.

But we all know it’s very unlikely to happen. But the fact is, it could.

And that’s what we’re buying.

Firstly, we’re buying a little dream time. What would we do with that jackpot money – what would we buy, where would we live, what car would we drive, how would we help out our family and friends.

Secondly, it’s entertainment!

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that, actually, I quite enjoy playing the lottery. Whether I play in a lottery syndicate, or I buy a quick pick ticket at my local shop. It’s fun.

Some big winners carry on buying lottery tickets. They must be really stupid then, right? Or, could it be because they just enjoy playing too..?

And for a pound, a dollar or a euro – that’s some very cheap entertainment.

I’ve spent a lot more than that renting movies that entertained me a lot less.

Some players probably don’t fully understand the odds. But does that really make them foolish?

Is it foolish to have a little fun, enjoy a little ‘what if’ dreaming with your friends or work colleagues?

For less than half the price of a cappucino?

I think not.

And what of the winners dear dull witted lottery basher?

I’d love to put one of you in a room full of lottery winners. You know, a whole bunch of those stupid mathematically challenged people. The ones who dared to dream a little, and found their little dream became a great big wonderful reality.

It’s actually quite hard to take offense when someone calls you ‘stupid’ for risking a bit of pocket change. Particularly when you’ve already become one of the tens of thousands of overnight millionaires created by lottery games.

Yes, it would have been far more sensible to put that money in the bank. And enjoy the benefits of compound interest that would see it double to cover the price of a whole cappucino in around 20 years…

And maybe we could do that with all the other money we waste on having a bit of fun and enjoying life.

Or maybe, just maybe, we could live a little instead.

There is one aspect of the maths that every lottery player clearly understands however.

The chances of winning a jackpot may be remote, but not buying a ticket makes them precisely zero.

Good luck in the next draw.

P.S. Hit the Like button below if you agree that playing the lottery is not stupid!

Related posts:

1. Anti Online Gambling Law Challenged
2. El Gordo Draw – Kinda Freaky

Along with simply ‘which lottery is the best?’ (to which my tongue in cheek answer is… ‘the lottery that just paid you the jackpot.’)

The Best Odds Of Winning

But it is a serious question, because the odds of the game are the number one factor that determine if you win or lose.

The lottery with the best odds is usually the one with the fewest balls drawn. So a pick 3 game is of course easier to win than a pick 4 game. Which is why the pick 3 prizes are much smaller.

Prize Matters

This is the hidden half of this question.

Because, yes you really want the game with the best odds. But you also want the jackpot to be big enough to get you excited. And the key is how you balance the two.

Yes, it’s great to win the pick 3 jackpot – but if winning that money won’t change your life at all, then you’re not playing the right game.

Compare Lottery Games

To compare lottery games well you need to understand the odds, and have an idea of how big a win would change your life. To make this super easy, use my tool to help you compare lottery odds.

Then you can pick which lottery game has the best odds for you.

Related posts:

1. Which UK Lotto Game Has The Best Chances Of Winning?
2. Does Buying More Tickets Change The Odds Of Winning The Lottery?
3. Chances of Winning Mega Millions?

OK, maybe you want more answer for your money

Buying more tickets instantly changes the odds of winning. It’s your No.1 sure fire way to do so. And it’s extremely simple to work out the increased chances of winning you get.

Buy two tickets and you double your chances over having just the one ticket. OK, that still means you only have about a 2 in 13 million chance of winning, but it’s still twice the chance you had before. Buy three tickets and you have three times the chance. Buy a hundred tickets and you have, yes you guessed it, a hundred times the chance! (Of course buying a hundred lottery tickets can be pretty expensive to do by yourself, which is why I recommend to friends that they play in a syndicate).

So yes, buying more tickets does change your odds of winning, and just happens to be the best way to boost your chances of winning.

Related posts:

1. Which Lottery Has The Best Odds Of Winning?
2. Check Lottery Tickets Yourself… Or Else!
3. Crazy Rare Consecutive Lottery Numbers On Florida Lottery