Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#11

Post by atroposDad » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:01 AM UTC

I would be really curious to see the money side of this. I am not sure about Powerball, but with EuroJackpot, some of the smaller wins can cover the cost of the ticket (or even cover a holiday!).

It would be really interesting to watch the expected value play out over repeated plays!! I am imagining a running balance where you keep track of total spend versus total returns. Most of the time the balance steadily goes more negative, with occasional jumps back up when you hit a partial match, and very rare big spikes from a larger win.

Very cool project!

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#12

Post by amelius » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:06 AM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #7

What I love about this is how it demonstrates that the waiting is the most powerful part. That week is where a lotto user’s brain does all the work for the lotto corp. The anticipation! The excitement. What if? Oh let’s daydream! Oh the dopamine! You don’t even have to sell them hope. Just sell them the sensation of hope.

Hope is a pretty good thing to have, though. And it's one of the few things many people actually _can_ have. Therefore maybe lotteries aren't so bad after all even if nobody ever wins, and posts like this are actually bad.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#13

Post by satisfice » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:07 AM UTC

The odds of winning are so low that I tell people the odds that they will just give me the money even though I bought no ticket can’t be much lower.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#14

Post by Waterluvian » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

atroposDad wrote: post #11

I would be really curious to see the money side of this. I am not sure about Powerball, but with EuroJackpot, some of the smaller wins can cover the cost of the ticket (or even cover a holiday!). It would be really interesting to watch the expected value play out over repeated plays!! I am imagining a running balance where you keep track of total spend versus total returns. Most of the time the balance steadily goes…

Love the idea. Could also allow the viewer to pick how often they buy tickets and keep track of how much time passes. I think this dimension would help give context to the losses number.

Might hide all this behind the current automatic view with a “play it yourself” toggle.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#15

Post by sunrunner » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:09 AM UTC

DavidPiper wrote: post #9

The amount of time I spent watching this page is a nice reminder of why I have a rule to never buy lottery tickets. See also: Simulation Clicker. I know how my brain works these days.

Why not buy lottery tickets? The only thing smaller than the ridiculously small chance of winning is absolute zero, from never playing. Bad odds are still odds :)

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#16

Post by andrerpena » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:11 AM UTC

lunaru wrote: post #2

I think people understand the odds are small. However, perhaps they perceive their chances of meaningfully turn around their life in other ways have even smaller odds. i.e. improbable vs actually impossible. At least the lottery doesn't care about your current circumstance and everyone has an equal (equally small) chance. Secondly, because everyone realizes the chances are small, the real product being sold is Hope.…

I think: 1) Like you said, people are buying hope. 2) People cannot fathom this degree of improbability. So, the fact that it's at least possible overrides the near-impossibility of it. 3) There is some aspect of entertainment and social-interaction to it. It's a bit like watching sports. Who you're cheering for is irrelevant, and whoever wins doesn't change your life in any way, but still, we watch it.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#17

Post by dangus » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:11 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #6

dangus wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another aspect is that in many states, a large portion of the lottery goes directly into public good programs like education: https://www.powerball.net/distribution-of-revenue All the players know that the odds are horrible, but in the end someone does win.

Money is fungible, every penny going from the lottery to X is a penny not taken from the general fund. Thus specific funds for X is only meaningful as a minimum funding amount.

This is technically true, but the end result is that if you abolish the lottery (unpopular) you have to raise taxes (even more unpopular) to replace lost revenue.

Sin taxes work so well at plugging funding gaps specifically because they are optional.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#18

Post by Waterluvian » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:12 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #12

Waterluvian wrote: post #7

What I love about this is how it demonstrates that the waiting is the most powerful part. That week is where a lotto user’s brain does all the work for the lotto corp. The anticipation! The excitement. What if? Oh let’s daydream! Oh the dopamine! You don’t even have to sell them hope. Just sell them the sensation of hope.

Hope is a pretty good thing to have, though. And it's one of the few things many people actually _can_ have. Therefore maybe lotteries aren't so bad after all even if nobody ever wins, and posts like this are actually bad.

Many people come down off that kind of hope when their numbers don’t come up. I’ve seen it. I have friends who felt it. You might perceive it as a sort of loan to get you through the week. But you owe it back plus the $2 interest.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#19

Post by TehCorwiz » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:15 AM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #7

What I love about this is how it demonstrates that the waiting is the most powerful part. That week is where a lotto user’s brain does all the work for the lotto corp. The anticipation! The excitement. What if? Oh let’s daydream! Oh the dopamine! You don’t even have to sell them hope. Just sell them the sensation of hope.

I view buying a lottery ticket as a way to fund the things that the taxes are allocated to while also getting to fantasize until the drawing. I play maybe twice a year. There's near zero chance I'll win. That's not the point. The point is to have that fantasy, just for a moment.

Re: Show HN: Website that plays the lottery every second

#20

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 03, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC

dangus wrote: post #17

Retric wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money is fungible, every penny going from the lottery to X is a penny not taken from the general fund. Thus specific funds for X is only meaningful as a minimum funding amount.

This is technically true, but the end result is that if you abolish the lottery (unpopular) you have to raise taxes (even more unpopular) to replace lost revenue. Sin taxes work so well at plugging funding gaps specifically because they are optional.

[deleted]