[joker]

LOL these lottery threads always bring the smarter-than-thou preachers out. I suspect that the folks here who have opted to spend a very disposable $2 on some entertainment for this week aren't as stupid as you think, Mike. We're just a little different from you. That there are folks who dump lots of recurring $ on the lottery weekly is more troubling, and again not likely as much due to the stupidity of which you haughtily write, but more about other issues for which I have some degree of compassion. The only regret I have about buying a ticket now and then when the pots get super high (particularly when the potential payoff is higher than inverse of the odds of winning, which though it doesn't change the odds of winning, nonetheless somehow makes it that much more entertaining!) is that I'm supporting a system that hurts some of these folks who really can't afford a gambling habit.

[cefire]

^ true story, and we all very likely spend money in ways that aren't very smart "Holier than thou" pro tip: You can dream about what you'd do with the lotto cash even if you don't buy a ticket

[Bernardo]

It's kind of funny that for mere millions many aren't interested. But for hundreds of millions they'll drive to the store and by a ticket.

[PaulS]

100% of winners have played!

[joker]

[treeswarper]

Yup. I drove to the store to buy a ticket, and milk. Nothing wrong with that, or is there? What are these lines you write of?

[Tom]

[Randito]

Play for entertainment, not investment. I have a relation that has declared bankruptcy twice, is constantly broke, pissed through $250,000 in two years after selling a house, is now in there 70s , still needs to work and buys lottery tickets as a retirement plan. a Powerball jackpot wouldn't run out, but a $5 million lotto win would get run through pretty quick I think.

[meandering Wa]

I dont know, depends on the person and their self control / perspective on life a 5M lotto win would give any one of us the knowledge of a safe and secure retirement.

[joker]

[drm]

It's only stupid if you think you have a good chance of winning. Or if you don't have enough money to buy food because of your ticket purchases. I wonder whether lottery purchases are affected by economic conditions. There are so many people these days who don't think they will get ahead financially no matter how hard they work, and who don't think there kids will be any better off. So the only way to get ahead is to get lucky.

[Slugman]

I thought taxes were imposed, not chosen as entertainment. Seems like mister "everyone else is stupid" needs to buy a dictionary.

[boot up]

We bought one ticket. It is cheap entertainment for dreaming about what you would do with that money. Like getting buzzed, a nice breach of reality with only a slight crash after. Occasionally we will get wrapped up in it, I will start to inject reality into the discussion as my wife gives it away several times over, before we even dream spend it. Then I have to smack my forehead and realize its pretty safe to not sweat details like that. Tough to find entertainment that cheap these days. Now buying more than one ticket....that would indeed be just plain stupid, statistically speaking.

[lostintheforest]

[Lono]

I bought a ticket but have never felt stupid about such things. I'll never win but its a good feeling to at least enter the lottery for the money. I am unemployed but not wealthy now. That $2 in my pocket can't go very far, I have about 500 $1 bills sitting in a home safe going unspent now. Same goes for the pile of pocket change that accumulates for me in a jar, occasionally I'll pick out quarters to pay parking when I go over to Seattle. I create habits for myself - I'll save all the shiny quarters from national parks, and throw the rest into the jar. And I'll buy a lotto ticket each time I go to the grocery store with my dollars. Doesn't hurt me or anyone, I figure I'll have a pile of shiny quarters to give to my now unborn grand kids 20-40 years from now. And if I hit on even 5 of the numbers on the powerball I have enough money to forget about retirement issues and money in general. Meantime all it costs me is nibbling at pocket change. The dollar bill today isn't worth much unless it can morph into something bigger.