This is essentially the flip side to the more banal paradox of the casino itself: the expected value of casino games are strictly negative for the player, but p

This is essentially the flip side to the more banal paradox of the casino itself: the expected value of casino games are strictly negative for the player, but people choose to play them anyway. In the case of the St Petersburg game, the variance means that you're far more likely to lose money than win it in a single game, despite the highly positive EV; in the case of the casino, the variance means that you can often walk out ahead after playing roulette for an hour or two despite the slightly negative EV.