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Dies_Irae
Supreme Hero
with the perfect plan
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posted January 11, 2016 01:11 PM |
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Buying a dream
No winner for the $900M Powerball jackpot, Wednesday draw worth $1.3B
Lottery jackpots here in the Netherlands are considerably more...humble, but even at 30 million euros (Staatsloterij) it's astronomically high for the average person. Let alone 900 million dollars, which even after tax reduction would still be more than a person could ever spend in his/her entire life.
But that's not the point here. The point is the act of buying a lottery ticket to begin with. We all know that the chances of winning the jackpot are small if not microscopical. So whenever you buy a ticket you're probably like "It probably won't be me, but whatever". This year's 30 million did have two winners here, both on a 1/2-ticket. The people who bought these tickets probably thought the exact same thing.
Reading the article above, it seems that long queues of people were to be found all across the country, all standing there for what they'd hope to be The Ticket. Last month, when we were gathered at home, we were kinda talking about this. First we were discussing wether we should all pay for one ticket together, or pursue our own fortune by each buying a ticket individually. Eventually we settled on the latter. I, myself, spent 15 euros on a 1/2 ticket at some random shop in town.
And that is where dreaming starts. "What if, what if. It won't be me, but what if..." The idea that this little, trivial piece of paper might become worth millions overnight is intoxicating. But what have you done? My sister rightfully put it as buying a dream. You're buying something that you hope will give you a sum of money with which you may do whatever you need or want to do. But deep within you know it's so small a chance. Yet you do it anyway. Why?
The case of the Staatsloterij is a different one than with the Postcode Loterij. The latter works differently, and the jackpot does not go to one individual, but to an entire postal code. So if you and your neighbours are all in, the prize money is divided amongst everyone depending on how many tickets you have. It has occured already that someone didn't join in for one time, and discovered that his/her street had won...leaving this person with nothing but the wish to sue the company. It recently happened again. A guy from Sittard (Limburg, NL) had a Postcode Loterij subscription, so every month (or whenever there is a draw) he would automatically pay for his participation. However, this year, he didn't have enough money on his account, and so he didn't participate while being totally unaware of this. And fate being a cruel force, his postal code had the jackpot of 43,9 million euros. He thought himself rich for about half an hour, before realizing he hadn't participated at all...
Efforts to get what he thought was his, roughly a million or two at least, proved unfruitful. He didn't pay, didn't buy the four tickets he usually did, so he has no right of claim on the prize money. And that is a dream shattered into tiny bits.
Read more about it here (articles in Dutch):
Click
Click 2
By the way, I didn't win anything, unfortunately  . So, how often do you participate in lotteries? Or not at all? How often have you dreamt about having millions at your disposal and travelling the world over and over again until there's no corner left to discover?
How often did you buy a dream? Or do you disagree with this concept of 'buying dreams?'
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 11, 2016 03:55 PM |
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i would play the lottery, if i had the income for it. my problem is, i always think i have the winning ticket. the doubt in my mind is more microscopic than my chances of winning, or close to.
i discuss from time to time what i would do, if i were to win the lottery(if i were to get the income to play it, anyway). every close family member would at least get a million each. there's no way i would keep that much for myself, the amount is retarded. with that amount of money, every single member of my family(even the ones i don't know) would at least get a million dollars each.
me, all i need is a million dollars. i never want to have to work again for the rest of my life. that is my dream. travelling and what i could buy with that money, would fall far into the background. i might take a trip every year, if that frequently.
but being that i don't think we have much longer on this earth, i might make more than one trip this year, should i win.
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The_Polyglot
Promising
Supreme Hero
Nuttier than squirrel poo
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posted January 11, 2016 06:00 PM |
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Once a relative of mine gifted me a lottery ticket. I won about 500 HUF - which was worth approximately 2 Euros at the time - which equaled to half my monthly allowance back then. It was at that point that I decided to call it quits, to preserve my positive balance of money won vs money invested.
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Sanity through drugs. Order yours today!
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted January 11, 2016 07:20 PM |
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I bought a few Power Ball tickets. I'm not making any grand plans just yet, though.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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OmegaDestroyer
Hero of Order
Fox or Chicken?
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posted January 11, 2016 07:39 PM |
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I buy some quality daydreaming with my Powerball tickets.
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The giant has awakened
You drink my blood and drown
Wrath and raving I will not stop
You'll never take me down
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted January 11, 2016 08:13 PM |
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Edited by markkur at 20:30, 11 Jan 2016.
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Long years back, I have bought a few tickets but one day I bothered to read, I have more chance being struck by lighting then winning so I began considering "my cash in hand" a better winning idea.
I had a friend that to him gambling was a serious-addiction. Better learn soon if you are one of those.
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 11, 2016 08:24 PM |
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@ markkur: a friend of my stepbrother is constantly winning using the scratch-off tickets. he buys 10 or so a week, and he's made over $200,000 in winnings in the past couple years. he buys these tickets from different places down in florida; mostly mom-and-pop shops.
i'd say it'd be a better bet to gamble on those, than on the actual lottery. 
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted January 11, 2016 08:29 PM |
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fred79 said:
@ markkur: a friend of my stepbrother is constantly winning using the scratch-off tickets. he buys 10 or so a week, and he's made over $200,000 in winnings in the past couple years. he buys these tickets from different places down in florida; mostly mom-and-pop shops.
i'd say it'd be a better bet to gamble on those, than on the actual lottery.
Prolly so, but if he does not stop he can become a strong candidate for the downside. Indeed there are lucky runs or places like Vegas would not exist but for every success story how many tragic tales?
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 11, 2016 08:36 PM |
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true enough. i've played with the scratch-offs a couple times: i bought $20 worth once, and won $20 on one ticket out of that. i figured that was fair. the other times, i could have just wiped my ass with my money, and flushed it down the toilet. 
i gambled on the cruise i went on as well, and lost. i'd make a horrible gambler, because i never think i'll lose. some idiot part of me thinks that me winning, is written in the stars. that's true about some things, but not with gambling cash, it seems.
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TDL
Honorable
Supreme Hero
The weak suffer. I endure.
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posted January 11, 2016 08:48 PM |
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I do think scratchcards are less of a gamble than lottery tickets. Maybe not in the strictest sense, but usually scratchcards aren't bought in bulk, they cost invariably less in the long run, leading to lesser losses.
I've been a gambler all my life. Used to gamble cents in various arcade-style machines in local shops (they weren't prohibited for children in my country, meanwhile in most they are >18), then gamble with lottery/scratchcards, poker for the past 5 years. But even with lottery gambling it would likely end up being between 0.05/0.1% of my average monthly expenditure, so I do not consider that being something which actively drained my bankroll when I did it.
Recently I counted how much food I throw out due to it getting spoiled, buying something I wanna try out but I do not like at all and end up throwing away, and I guess with the resulting amount I'd rather have spent them on "buying a dream".
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Dies_Irae
Supreme Hero
with the perfect plan
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posted January 11, 2016 09:28 PM |
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markkur said:
fred79 said:
@ markkur: a friend of my stepbrother is constantly winning using the scratch-off tickets. he buys 10 or so a week, and he's made over $200,000 in winnings in the past couple years. he buys these tickets from different places down in florida; mostly mom-and-pop shops.
i'd say it'd be a better bet to gamble on those, than on the actual lottery.
Prolly so, but if he does not stop he can become a strong candidate for the downside. Indeed there are lucky runs or places like Vegas would not exist but for every success story how many tragic tales?
I think at some point, especially when successes are numerous, you end up wanting more. And that might very well flow into some kind of addiction or obsession, and soon you'll run into a loss streak that may do more harm than you think (but with a 200.000 dollar buffer, at least there's something to cushion the blow ).
There's also commercials to consider. Here on TV there are numerous scratch-card commercials which always end in succes (duh, there is a product to sell), and when there's a lottery commercial you'll see the usual happy faces and far-away destinations. Media influencing 'the dream'. Making it look so real and close.
I never tried scratchcards myself, maybe I'll give it a try once.
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Lord_Woock
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Daddy Cool with a $90 smile
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posted January 11, 2016 11:16 PM |
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I believe the euphemism for the national lottery here is 'optimism tax'. Apparently I'm not entirely dead inside yet, as I do play on occasion, especially when the drawing falls on a holiday or my birthday or something.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted January 12, 2016 02:59 PM |
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<imo> If you want some safe gambling and also have a lot of fun to boot have a community Las Vegas Night, when everyone plays all the usual games but if there is any money attached it goes to a announced charity....before hand. And no Fred you cannot be the charity.<L>
Closer to home grab some friends and play poker for pennies.<S> Or if most are too tight for that, play with chips but forget the moolah and make it a pride thing.
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Lord_Woock
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Daddy Cool with a $90 smile
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posted January 12, 2016 08:04 PM |
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Hah! Back when I was a kid (9 or thereabouts) I'd play poker for matchsticks with my grandfather, brother and cousin. It was great fun.
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Yolk and God bless.
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My buddy's doing a webcomic and would certainly appreciate it if you checked it out!
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 13, 2016 03:10 AM |
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Lord_Woock said:
Hah! Back when I was a kid (9 or thereabouts) I'd play poker for matchsticks with my grandfather, brother and cousin. It was great fun.
were those the "strike anywhere" matches? those are so much fun.
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Drakon-Deus
Undefeatable Hero
Qapla'
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posted January 13, 2016 07:06 AM |
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I've never been passionate about card games and that kind of gamble in general, more about sports betting. Both activities are popular here...
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friendofgunnar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
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posted January 14, 2016 03:37 AM |
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got a ticket
am not feeling lucky
was a nice inexpensive fantasty that lasts for a few hours though.
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted January 14, 2016 10:08 AM |
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Yeah, my wife just had to buy one. "It's up to a gazillion dollars now". I just groaned.
She said the guy in front of her spent $500 "for a group of people". My first thought was..."Yeah, that's what I would say if I was throwing five hundred smackers away but didn't want to extremely foolish. The only time I ever bought a ticket was for the "three of us"...me, myself and I. <S>
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"Do your own research"
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