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I’ll admit that I bought a lottery ticket for the first time ever when the US Powerball was over $1B. I don’t think people entirely buy lottery tickets expecti

I’ll admit that I bought a lottery ticket for the first time ever when the US Powerball was over $1B. I don’t think people entirely buy lottery tickets expecting to win and doing the rational thing of calculating expectation values and taking calculated risks after weighing opportunity costs. They just want to daydream and paying a few dollars for a ticket makes that more exciting.

mupuff1234 4y ago
Which is quite similar to "investing" in crypto I think. It's basically being marketed as a get rich quick scheme to most retail.
- medellin 4y ago
  Maybe as a “get rich” scheme but I haven’t seen it marketed as a get rich quick scheme anymore than options trading is. * options have legit uses but almost no one is retail is using them for things like capping risk.
- lokedhs 4y ago
  The difference is in your reaction to loss. If people spend a few dollars on the lottery, most people are not going to be upset when they lose. Of course, they're are always people who spend everything they have on gambling, but most people agree that a lottery is something you expect to lose. When people invest, they don't expect to lose. Of course course, there is always the risk of losing, but the difference between a lottery and an investment is that there is an expectation of loss in the former case.
- MisterBastahrd 4y ago
  No, because there's no real expectation to win when you buy a lottery ticket. There were enough cryptocurrencies that got pumped enough that people who bought into crypto felt that they had a good chance at succeeding. Also, there's been an insane amount of delusional fanboyism surrounding crypto that would be seen as completely insane if we're talking about gambling.
- rchaud 4y ago
  But getting rich still requires risking a lot of one's capital on some exchange that could go under any second, buying a coin that could get rugpulled any second. A lottery ticket costs no more than a few dollars. Even if you buy a bunch of tickets to improve your odds, that's still a few hundred dollars tops.
chillwaves 4y ago
Everyone who buys a ticket believes they have a chance of winning, though in reality they do not. What I mean is to say, it is a more honest/accurate statement that "you have zero chance of winning when you buy a lottery ticket" is more true than claiming they have a chance, (even if it is literally true) due to how our mind biases work.
- jstanley 4y ago
  But you have non-zero chance of winning the lottery. How can it be "honest/accurate" to say you have zero chance?
- plandis 4y ago
  The chance of winning is very small but it’s certainly not zero.
bruce511 4y ago
I'm not sure why you are bring down voted. Your point is valid, people buy tickets for reasons other than "I expect to win". We buy raffle tickets, not because we expect to win, but because we support the cause. Gambling can be entertainment. If I spend all night in a casino, end up $50 down, but had a fun night, how is that different to a ballgame, or show, or whatever. [1] In the same way people buy lottery tickets not because they _expect_ to win, but because its entertaining to _think about winning_, and the ticket is the price of admission. [2] [1] clearly there's a difference between losing entertainment money, and rent money. And gambling is not a good hobby for most people. [2] actually _winning_ the lottery has massive relationship downsides, which one can clearly ignore while daydreaming. Losing all your friends, an almost inevitable consequence, seems like a bad thing...

mupuff1234 4y ago

Which is quite similar to "investing" in crypto I think. It's basically being marketed as a get rich quick scheme to most retail.

medellin 4y ago
Maybe as a “get rich” scheme but I haven’t seen it marketed as a get rich quick scheme anymore than options trading is. * options have legit uses but almost no one is retail is using them for things like capping risk.
lokedhs 4y ago
The difference is in your reaction to loss. If people spend a few dollars on the lottery, most people are not going to be upset when they lose. Of course, they're are always people who spend everything they have on gambling, but most people agree that a lottery is something you expect to lose. When people invest, they don't expect to lose. Of course course, there is always the risk of losing, but the difference between a lottery and an investment is that there is an expectation of loss in the former case.
MisterBastahrd 4y ago
No, because there's no real expectation to win when you buy a lottery ticket. There were enough cryptocurrencies that got pumped enough that people who bought into crypto felt that they had a good chance at succeeding. Also, there's been an insane amount of delusional fanboyism surrounding crypto that would be seen as completely insane if we're talking about gambling.
rchaud 4y ago
But getting rich still requires risking a lot of one's capital on some exchange that could go under any second, buying a coin that could get rugpulled any second. A lottery ticket costs no more than a few dollars. Even if you buy a bunch of tickets to improve your odds, that's still a few hundred dollars tops.

chillwaves 4y ago

Everyone who buys a ticket believes they have a chance of winning, though in reality they do not. What I mean is to say, it is a more honest/accurate statement that "you have zero chance of winning when you buy a lottery ticket" is more true than claiming they have a chance, (even if it is literally true) due to how our mind biases work.

jstanley 4y ago
But you have non-zero chance of winning the lottery. How can it be "honest/accurate" to say you have zero chance?
plandis 4y ago
The chance of winning is very small but it’s certainly not zero.

bruce511 4y ago

I'm not sure why you are bring down voted. Your point is valid, people buy tickets for reasons other than "I expect to win". We buy raffle tickets, not because we expect to win, but because we support the cause. Gambling can be entertainment. If I spend all night in a casino, end up $50 down, but had a fun night, how is that different to a ballgame, or show, or whatever. [1] In the same way people buy lottery tickets not because they _expect_ to win, but because its entertaining to _think about winning_, and the ticket is the price of admission. [2] [1] clearly there's a difference between losing entertainment money, and rent money. And gambling is not a good hobby for most people. [2] actually _winning_ the lottery has massive relationship downsides, which one can clearly ignore while daydreaming. Losing all your friends, an almost inevitable consequence, seems like a bad thing...