leaking pen <itsat...@gmail.com> wrote: enh. i have more fun for longer with my money gambling at a casino. > the lottery is fun for a minute, then done.
Instant lotteries are only fun for a minute, but the ones drawn periodically are fun for several day. You buy the ticket and daydream about winning until the drawing. There have been some serious studies of this. Some people do get their money's worth of happiness from a $1 ticket that might possibly win millions in a week. It is like window shopping, or dressing up nicely and going to an expensive restaurant. It isn't the food you pay extra for; it is the transient pretend feeling of being rich. The payback for Georgia lottery tickets is about 40 to 1, as I recall. Thousands of tickets pay back $2, when you get the "Mega Ball" number only. I play several times a year and I have won $7 (3 out of 5 numbers). The smaller winnings keep people hooked on the game. If it only paid off in millions (all or nothing) it would be less enticing. - Jed
