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Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

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Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#11

Post by smcl »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #7

$80 BILLION a year in lottery spending, that was shocking to me. Only 30 some countries have bigger yearly budgets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen...

Remember that you can look at a lot of data on the US like this and come up with seemingly shocking figures, simply because of the huge population of the USA and their higher than average disposable income. I bet if you looked at other things like total amount spent on other optional/nonessential items - chewing gum or fabric softener, for example - you'd end up with a dollar value in excess of what many governments spend :-)

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#12

Post by thaumasiotes »

Piskvorrr wrote: post #6
bsaul wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even weirder is the statement that the State that organized the lottery made more money thanks to them buying massive amount of tickets ( or maybe it was the publicity around the first newspaper article that triggered more interest, and so more participant in general ?)

I understand the opposite: the State didn't lose any money, (but didn't make any money from these people winning, either); it made money from lottery as usual, but not from these people. (There's an implication that more people in general bought tickets, didn't win, and so the organizer made money from those - but it's not entirely clear.)

The state makes money from every ticket purchased. The lottery simply pays out a fixed percentage of ticket revenue. More ticket sales means more money to the state, regardless of whether those tickets, when purchased, had an expected positive or negative return.

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#13

Post by M2Ys4U »

Piskvorrr wrote: post #6
bsaul wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even weirder is the statement that the State that organized the lottery made more money thanks to them buying massive amount of tickets ( or maybe it was the publicity around the first newspaper article that triggered more interest, and so more participant in general ?)

I understand the opposite: the State didn't lose any money, (but didn't make any money from these people winning, either); it made money from lottery as usual, but not from these people. (There's an implication that more people in general bought tickets, didn't win, and so the organizer made money from those - but it's not entirely clear.)

Are state lottery ticket purchases taxed? That'd also bring in a chunk of change.

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#14

Post by onetimemanytime »

smcl wrote: post #11
onetimemanytime wrote: post #7

$80 BILLION a year in lottery spending, that was shocking to me. Only 30 some countries have bigger yearly budgets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen...

Remember that you can look at a lot of data on the US like this and come up with seemingly shocking figures, simply because of the huge population of the USA and their higher than average disposable income. I bet if you looked at other things like total amount spent on other optional/nonessential items - chewing gum or fabric softener, for example - you'd end up with a dollar value in excess of what many governments…

Oh, I know. Our GDP does it. If US can spend $80 Billion on lottery tickets imagine what we can spend to win a war. Makes you think more than twice before poking the bear.

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#15

Post by pliny »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #12
Piskvorrr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the opposite: the State didn't lose any money, (but didn't make any money from these people winning, either); it made money from lottery as usual, but not from these people. (There's an implication that more people in general bought tickets, didn't win, and so the organizer made money from those - but it's not entirely clear.)

The state makes money from every ticket purchased. The lottery simply pays out a fixed percentage of ticket revenue. More ticket sales means more money to the state, regardless of whether those tickets, when purchased, had an expected positive or negative return.

If the ticket has an expected positive return for the buyer, then the state must be losing money.

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#18

Post by MeteorMarc »

I just wonder, do you have to think very high about yourself to play such a game and enjoy it? Or very low? I just can not imagine myself feeling good about this.

Of course, the feeling dumbs a bit: compare the feelings you had after using your first illegally copied floppy disk or mp3 track and the later ones, but still.

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#19

Post by rzzzt »

smcl wrote: post #11
onetimemanytime wrote: post #7

$80 BILLION a year in lottery spending, that was shocking to me. Only 30 some countries have bigger yearly budgets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen...

Remember that you can look at a lot of data on the US like this and come up with seemingly shocking figures, simply because of the huge population of the USA and their higher than average disposable income. I bet if you looked at other things like total amount spent on other optional/nonessential items - chewing gum or fabric softener, for example - you'd end up with a dollar value in excess of what many governments…

The chewing gum market is a bit smaller (but impressive nonetheless), 110-ish countries have revenues comparable to sales in North America:

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/13098-chewing-gum-...

https://www.statista.com/topics/1841/chewing-gum/

Re: Couple wins millions using lottery loophole

#20

Post by [deleted] »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #12
Piskvorrr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the opposite: the State didn't lose any money, (but didn't make any money from these people winning, either); it made money from lottery as usual, but not from these people. (There's an implication that more people in general bought tickets, didn't win, and so the organizer made money from those - but it's not entirely clear.)

The state makes money from every ticket purchased. The lottery simply pays out a fixed percentage of ticket revenue. More ticket sales means more money to the state, regardless of whether those tickets, when purchased, had an expected positive or negative return.

[deleted]
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