> From a mathematical POV what you do is clearly irrational The ticket costs the same whether the pot is small or large. For every lottery, there is a jackpot

> From a mathematical POV what you do is clearly irrational The ticket costs the same whether the pot is small or large. For every lottery, there is a jackpot amount at which the expected value of a ticket exceeds its cost. Some lotteries occasionally approach this, even after taxes, although the chance of sharing the pot complicates that. Why is it "clearly irrational" to buy a ticket only when the EV is closer to 1, rather than when it's something like 0.2?