Is the Lotto the dumbest thing in modern society and should it be banned?

LoughNeagh2017

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Eric Cartman

Whatever about the actual lotto, a soft bet, bit of daydreaming fun , enter a syndicate etc... scratch cards are a complete waste of money and definitely a way to keep poor people poor , when you see somebody buying scratch cards its always tge same type , wouldnt know a job application if it hit them in the face

Professor Genius

paleoperson wrote: »

There are plenty of dumb things out there in society today, but at least with something like superstitions there's some sort of logic to it. I mean the tarot card readings may be phony, but at least there's a theory there. The anti-MMR people may be wrong, but at least there's some sort of misguided belief system there. The entire point of the lotto is to make hundreds of thousands of people poorer and one person with an excessive amount of wealth every week. That's not my opinion, that's the stated goal. The lottery is the anti-thesis of trying to get to an equal society.

Also other dubious things only fool a tiny percentage of society and the trends of believing in that type of thing seems to be headed in the right direction. A few extreme cases notwithstanding, it'd be hard to find someone fool enough to be spending hundreds of euros a year on forecasting the future hotlines while it would hardly cause an eyebrow lift for the lotto. You don't turn on prime time television and have the national broadcaster on the public government-authorized channel broadcasting tarot readings and encouraging people to call up at a prime time. With a draw on Christmas Day and Spain's recent €2.4 billion lottery (the highest ever), I have to wonder - what is happening to society?!

"But it's only a bit of fun and also it helps a lot of good causes".

The act of robbing from the poor and giving to the rich is all the lotto does, that's not "fun" for any right-minded person. If the only bit of excitement some old people have in their lives is their lotto numbers then maybe they should get to the root cause of their problems instead of flashing numbers in an eternal fantasy. At least do the local bingo instead, that's a social night out and they have a decent chance of breaking even.

The "Lotto helps a lot of good causes" thing is a ridiculous defence. So if the tobacco industry started giving part of its profits to good causes then every time someone says to put a higher tax on it or get rid of it people would say "the tobacco industry does a lot of good, it gives part of its profits to good causes"? Or what about the diamond trade if they're operating bad practices do we whitewash it all if they give part of their profits to good causes? Good causes can be funded directly, what is the point of the middle man of the lotto who has absolutely nothing to do with those causes, it's just operating a gambling system?

"It's a person's choice to play it or not".

Choice is not always a good thing. Goods and services are all choice-restricted by regulations so that people can safely buy things without being worried about researching whether it will give them cancer or electrocute them.

Someone angry their chosen numbers didn’t come up?

TheValeyard

It's not the worst.

Single use wet wipes are far worse.

MadYaker

It's the idiot tax and it brings in a lot of money for the government and I believe they also donate money to good causes. Long may it continue.

Mister Vain

If you're not in you can't win. Shur you could be spending your money on worse thing.

Eric Cartman

Mister Vain wrote: »

If you're not in you can't win. Shur you could be spending your money on worse thing.

Often the lottery takes precident over feeding the children or the esb bill

AndrewJRenko

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Often the lottery takes precident over feeding the children or the esb bill

Source please?

weldoninhio

Boredstiff666 wrote: »

I listened to a radio program on such once and the fella had the odds all worked out regards betting.

The Lotto was the worst gamble by far with the odds being so high against the player.

Horse racing (if not fixed) was the best way of seeing some return on your bet.

I wonder how many people end up in GA because of the lotto, as compared to Horse Racing etc.

weldoninhio

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Often the lottery takes precident over feeding the children or the esb bill

How much do you think the lotto costs??

bucketybuck

Have to laugh at the breaking news that adding more numbers made it harder to win!!!

As if there is any functional difference between 1 in 10 million or 1 in 14 million, oh they really wrecked our chances with that change didn't they...

Dakota Dan

phelixoflaherty wrote: »

A tax for fools

Except it isn’t a tax.

MadYaker

weldoninhio wrote: »

How much do you think the lotto costs??

When I was in college I worked in shops for 3 years and we had a good few regular customers who spend €50 or more every week on the lotto. These were mostly older people who didn't look to me like they had much money. They'd put a fiver petrol in their car and then spend 11 quid on a box of fags and another 15 or so on lotto every time they came in. We had a few like this every week. Likewise there were lots of people who I knew were on the dole spending 10 - 15 quid a day on scratch cards. Mostly single mothers with no education no husband and a bunch of kids. I suspect it would be replicated up and down the country.

paleoperson

mikemac2 wrote: »

Some sneering at the poor & uneducated buying lotto tickets will spend over one thousand per year on overpriced coffee that cost a few cents to produce

One thousand a year isn't a ridiculous amount to spend on coffee. It's less than €3 a day, which is less than a single take away coffee.

A year's worth of good coffee costs cents to produce really? Put me on to your suppliers. The heating of coffee for one day costs more than that. Your scenario never happens. Expensive, premium coffee also does not have ridiculous profit margins, it's a very competitive industry. Stop talking ****e you have no clue about. There are so many other things with actual ridiculous profit margins you could have chosen to talk about, expensive diamonds, cars, handbags and you decide to invent this stuff about coffee.

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Most people are not stupid about the lottery, they do a line or two as a way of providing some vague tension in a quiet life while prompting harmless flights of fancy on daft.ie.

They could have the same tension every day checking the mail for a previously unknown relative having left them their vast fortune and the checking of the mail beforehand could also provide that. The odds would probably be very similar.

Boredstiff666

bucketybuck wrote: »

Have to laugh at the breaking news that adding more numbers made it harder to win!!!

As if there is any functional difference between 1 in 10 million or 1 in 14 million, oh they really wrecked our chances with that change didn't they...

But it could be YOU!

paleoperson

MadYaker wrote: »

When I was in college I worked in shops for 3 years and we had a good few regular customers who spend €50 or more every week on the lotto. These were mostly older people who didn't look to me like they had much money. They'd put a fiver petrol in their car and then spend 11 quid on a box of fags and another 15 or so on lotto every time they came in. We had a few like this every week. Likewise there were lots of people who I knew were on the dole spending 10 - 15 quid a day on scratch cards. Mostly single mothers with no education no husband and a bunch of kids. I suspect it would be replicated up and down the country.

Thanks. That is truly crazy stuff, even I didn't think it was near as bad as that. It's disgusting, predatory and it should be stopped.

Apparently someone on a Fox News segment came up with some tips on increasing your chances:

decky1

hopefully Ireland will soon start the Post Code lottery it would help some more charities, maybe better than the national who have given money to the GAA and other's that don't need it.

AndrewJRenko

bucketybuck wrote: »

Have to laugh at the breaking news that adding more numbers made it harder to win!!!

As if there is any functional difference between 1 in 10 million or 1 in 14 million, oh they really wrecked our chances with that change didn't they...

It made a big difference to those who gamed the system by buying large numbers of tickets with the objective of covering most permutations, like Stefan


https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/how-to-win-the-lotto-1276851-Jan2014/

MadYaker

paleoperson wrote: »

Thanks. That is truly crazy stuff, even I didn't think it was near as bad as that. It's disgusting, predatory and it should be stopped.

Apparently someone on a Fox News segment came up with some tips on increasing your chances:

I have a suspicion that there is a serious gambling problem sneaking up on us in this country. I'm not into it but some of my friends who are into football are at it on their phones the whole time. Go look at Paddy Power's profits from any of the last few years, eye opening. It isn't half as tightly regulated as the likes of alcohol or cigs. The gov are alseep on it.

AndrewJRenko

paleoperson wrote: »

Thanks. That is truly crazy stuff, even I didn't think it was near as bad as that. It's disgusting, predatory and it should be stopped.

It's nothing near as predatory as the actions of the private gambling companies who position themselves as 'one of the lads' but are actually working hard to take as much money out of the pockets of their customers as they can.

paleoperson

paleoperson wrote: »

There are so many other things with actual ridiculous profit margins you could have chosen to talk about, expensive diamonds, cars, handbags and you decide to invent this stuff about coffee.

It's a really good example. It's habitual and brings the person a certain joy to their day.

20euro a week is more than most spend on the lottery but to you, it's a reasonably acceptable amount to spend on good coffee. If you drank that much, and someone attacked you and called you an idiot for spending that on coffee, how would you feel?

I could drink the same amount of good coffee at home and do the Lotto for the same amount of money or less. Am I more or less dumb than someone only drinking coffee out?

keepalive213

Lotto is simply a hope tax
No gambling, lotto or bookies in the Netherlands, unless it has changed.

keepalive213

keepalive213 wrote: »

Lotto is simply a hope tax
No gambling, lotto or bookies in the Netherlands, unless it has changed.

The number of Dutch people who like to gamble is quite high. About 5,3 million people participate in a lottery sometimes. They also like to visit a casino for a great night out of try their luck in an online casino. About 600.000 people buy scratch cards on a regular basis.

mikemac2

paleoperson wrote: »

A year's worth of good coffee costs cents to produce really? Put me on to your suppliers. The heating of coffee for one day costs more than that. Your scenario never happens. Expensive, premium coffee also does not have ridiculous profit margins, it's a very competitive industry. Stop talking ****e you have no clue about.

Ah now, talk about escalation, telling me to stop talking ****e. If a coffee at 3 euro is good value then it does cost cents to produce, well under a euro

There is some angry posting :rolleyes: My post was clear

Necro

whisky_galore wrote:

I would think that places like bookies, those seedy looking "casinos" and online betting are far worse. They take and give back nothing to the local community.

Pretty much this tbh.

Online betting is the real issue, you can place big money at any time of the day or night with little to fcuk all restrictions (unless you're actually winning which is when they start to restrict you).

Every sporting event on TV is littered with ads for these companies, clubs and teams sponsored by them so they get their name plastered everywhere akin to the tobacco companies in the 70s/80s.

Profits in the hundreds of millions year on year and still growing. Head offices of the companies based in tax free havens so they take this money out of the exchequer.

No regulation, the usual Irish 'shure it'll be grand the big corporate entities know they have responsibility and will self regulate'

Compare that to Mary spending 10 quid a week on the Lotto for a little bit of hope, I wonder why the OP is taking aim at the Lotto and not the real problem with gambling.

paleoperson

Deleted User wrote: »

It's a really good example. It's habitual and brings the person a certain joy to their day.

20euro a week is more than most spend on the lottery but to you, it's a reasonably acceptable amount to spend on good coffee. If you drank that much, and someone attacked you and called you an idiot for spending that on coffee, how would you feel?

But when you buy coffee you actually get something in return. You get something that's nourishing (coffee has health benefits) and also physiologically stimulating and appealing.

Lotto is all in the head, it's a swindle. The person thinks they're getting a good deal but they're not. No animal intentionally acts in a way it believed was not to its interests. It would be like shooting itself in the foot. When people play the lotto it's because they start thinking about winning and it feels like a real thing that could happen for them. I know on paper they understand that in the long run they are worse off but it's clearly not getting through to them in some way.

Deleted User wrote: »

I could drink the same amount of good coffee at home and do the Lotto for the same amount of money or less. Am I more or less dumb than someone only drinking coffee out?

Believe it or not but some people have actual places to go in the day time - like a job. They don't have the luxury of being able to make coffee at home all the time, I'm sure they would do that most of the time if they were at home.

mikemac2 don't talk to me.

mikemac2

paleoperson wrote: »

Believe it or not but some people have actual places to go in the day time - like a job.

Tis a very arrogant style of posting you have

paleoperson

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

It's nothing near as predatory as the actions of the private gambling companies who position themselves as 'one of the lads' but are actually working hard to take as much money out of the pockets of their customers as they can.

I think it's just as predatory if not more so. Acting as someone friendly and trying to squeeze money is a common tactic used by private entities from the local shopkeeper to a bank manager. The objective of a private company is to make money, the objective of the government is to serve and protect its people.

Not condoning any types but least with real life bingo or roulette there's a social element, card games can be interesting and require skill. It's quite ironic how the government is meant to be monitoring and protecting people from predatory gambling operations and meanwhile is operating the biggest most soulless one of them all.

4068ac1elhodqr

When you buy a lotto (jackpot) ticket you buy into a dream (with a small chance of realisation) e.g.

Ire Lotto jackpot (six/47) @10,737,573
EM Lotto jackpot (five50+two12) @139,838,160

Some goes to good causes, but much will go to operating costs or private group retirement and equity funds.
e.g. Ire Xmas raffle thing only gives 37% of the total prizepool back to players as prizefund allocaiton.

However there is worse things e.g. Owner of Bet365 paid herself £323m last week as a salary (x3 Apples CEO).
When you win on '365 you will quickly get restricted and blocked from services.
Some books even use FRS to bar winner's faces from their stores, they're not wanted.

I understand the stats, and thus only play a specalist version of the lotto, and am in profit this year.
Wouldn't look at the scratchies or all that virtual nonsesne. Only do small, risk-adverse, high-yield, real-world accas.

Ideally all lucky dips should be restricted across the EU and ads severely clamped down upon, however there is a side issue:
The US market is now actually opening up to bets as they've been loosing too (tax-take) much to the $4bn 'black market'.

thewolfisloose

I don't pay to win. I pay to fantasise while getting to sleep or during my commute about what I would do with the money.

6 euro for 2-3 days of top-shelf wonderment. For me, that's worth it.