Around here we call it Voluntary Taxation. It is worth a few dollars now and then for the potential lightning strike of a big win.

[QUOTE=kladner;343864]Around here we call it Voluntary Taxation. It is worth a few dollars now and then for the potential lightning strike of a big win.[/QUOTE]

Fair enough.

Around here we call it a Tax on Those who are Bad at Math....

Edit: Not meaning to insult anyone who plays the lottery. For those who know "the house" always wins, it's fine to have a little thrill. "Two economists are walking down the road. One says to the other `Is that a hundred dollar bill just lying there?` `Of course not`, says the other economist, `or else someone would have already picked it up...`".

[QUOTE=chalsall;343866]Fair enough.

Around here we call it a Tax on Those who are Bad at Math....[/QUOTE]

Well, that's fairly accurate, too, if taken very far.

There are times, of course, when the math says you [B]should[/B] buy a ticket. See also Pascal's wager.

My father would always say that the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, to which I would respond that there are three kinds of people in the world--those who are good at math and those who aren't.

[QUOTE=chappy;343874]There are times, of course, when the math says you [B]should[/B] buy a ticket. See also Pascal's wager.[/QUOTE]

Ah... But which god?

the god of the amount of money to be won is more than the odds over cost of buying a ticket.

Pascal's wager was merely a flawed implementation of his good math on gambling.

[QUOTE=chalsall;343875]Ah... But which god?[/QUOTE]Atheism for pantheists.

Didn't Pascal lose his wager? :smile:

[QUOTE=davar55;343912]Didn't Pascal lose his wager? :smile:[/QUOTE]

[SIZE=3]¿Quién sabe?[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]I haven't heard that he has reported back. :no:[/SIZE]

This will be moderatly less funny the next time Mike logs in.

Remind me, how many elephant ride the turtles, which support a world?