Q:
The most accessible gambling during the shutdown has been the lottery. Now, everyone knows what a bad bet the lottery is; the odds against hitting state jackpots are one in millions, while the odds in the big multi-state lotteries are one in the hundreds of millions. Still, the dream of instant riches (and the end to all financial worries) is strong and the question for our poll next week is, does that tempt you?
Knowing what a big edge the lottery has on ticket buyers, do you still play? Has your aversion to the lottery based on the odds changed during the pandemic? Has gambling math go out the window or have you held on to a previous attitude that the lottery is a colossal waste of money?
Thanks, as always, for voting and commenting in the boxes.
A:
511 Total Votes
| I sometimes purchase a ticket for Powerball or Mega Millions, but only if there’s a big rollover jackpot. |
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| I always buy a ticket for at least one lottery, state and/or national - it’s an affordable cheap thrill for me and you just never know. |
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| I play my state lottery, but not the huge national ones, as the chances of winning in that big of a field are just too remote to bother. |
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| I'm not at all interested in the lottery and that's all I want to say about it. |
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| Even if the lottery were the last gambling option in the world, I still wouldn't play. |
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| I have never been, and will never be, tempted to play the lottery; it’s just too lousy of a bet for me to consider. |
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| My state doesn't have a lottery and I’m not prepared to go to the trouble of crossing the state line to buy a ticket, so for me it’s simply not an option. |
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| I play my state lottery, but not the huge national ones; I wouldn't mind winning a few million, but jackpots in the hundreds, or even tens, of millions scare me and I don't need all those money headaches. |
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| I don’t play the lottery; I’ve read so many horror stories about a huge jackpot ruining someone’s life that I’d actually be afraid of the possible consequences if I won. |
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| I never considered buying a ticket before the shutdown of most other forms of gambling, but I like having action, so I've bought some lottery tickets since. |
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Analysis
This wasn't our most popular poll ever, with slightly more than 500 votes.
But it shows that a plurality of respondents buy lottery tickets at one time or another. One out of five regularly plays the lottery, with another nearly one out of two getting caught up in the big multi-state jackpots that receive an enormous amount of publicity. Another 11% buy smaller state-lottery tickets for one reason or another.
The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh vote-getters (23%) all tally up respondents who never play the lottery, whatever the reason.
Most interesting to us, though, is the number -- all of three -- who took up the lottery as a gambling option after the shutdown of the casinos and sports. We would have expected it to be higher.
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