Re: the lottery
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Most of the people that play lotto don`t expect to win because they know the odds.
The reasons for playing lotto are more psychological (hope, desperation, feelings of "only way out of misery",excitement, plain fun etc. etc...)
then mathematical (odds, RoI etc..)
That`s why the most common reaction of winners is:
"I CANT BELIEVE I WON!"
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You are right about that.
People play the lottery because they don't realize that it isn't +EV. People don't even know what is EV. People don't have a clue about gambling, they are stupid in that area (I don't mean to sound rude or unsociable, but this is a fact). They only see the big prize and have that mentality: maybe it will be me. Some girl said to me one time that she has to have some hope in life so she plays lotto. I don't play lottery because it is a waste of time and money and it is just stupid to play it.
But I am always surprised at how little faith people have in math, probability and odds and how much faith they have in something they call "luck". So the reason why they play lotto is simply: STUPIDITY.
Probably not what you asked, but since this is a psychological forum, the reason why people play lotto is probably not offtopic.
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