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Comment by dfrey | Hacker News Reader

A $10K lottery is a horrible idea. Most people know that on average you will lose money by buying lottery tickets. What makes it worth playing (for some people) is the (very small) chance of winning fuck you money. If I win $10k, I would be excited and happy about it, but it's going to have very little long-term effect on my lifestyle.

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People play 4-digit and 3-digit as well as the scratch offs that win $10k and smaller prizes

I won't say that I thought about the numbers too much, so I'd agree that it's a "horrible" idea, however I want to point out a few things:

> Most people know that on average you will lose money

I don't think most people know this. Perhaps you do. Perhaps most of us here on HN know, but I strongly doubt most people who play do, given that most people who play are poor [1].

> What makes it worth playing...

This isn't true either. Most people who play play it for the smaller winners [1].

Finally, I just want to reiterate that the point of this is exactly what you mentioned. By making the amount small enough such that it wouldn't have a huge effect on your lifestyle, you make it safer to disclose who won.

[1] https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/1/13/10763268/lottery-po...

> I don't think most people know this.

You don't think most people know they're gambling when they buy a lottery ticket?

I grew up around some businesses that sold various lottery products. I'm not trying to sound mean or dismissive at all when I say this, just strictly matter of fact: I talked to a large and incredible variety of idiots and uneducated people that bought lottery tickets, whether scratch-offs or traditional Powerball type. They all universally knew the odds were bad. Universally.

They also figured that for a few dollars - which most of them could easily afford here and there - those were the best odds they were ever going to have.

I concur with this, and also add that the smaller winnings accrued along the way adds to their sense of validation.

They spend $1000 on tickets, and the day where their next $5 ends up winning them $100 on a scratch-off makes it all worth it.

I suspect that many of the people who play the lottery don't view money as having a strictly linear value. Spending a dollar a day on lottery tickets is a cost that is easy to absorb (think of how many people think nothing of buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks every day). Winning the lottery means getting a relatively large infusion of cash at once, at that infusion has a higher value to power people than the loss of a small amount of money.

Put another way, as a one-time deal, would you consider spending $1 for a 1-in-a-million chance to win $100,000? For many people, that isn't a totally unreasonable bargain. But if I ask you that 10,000 times, the cost becomes spending $10,000 for a 1-in-100 chance to win $100,000. That's the real problem with the predatory nature of the lottery.

You don't think that the people who play the lottery every day but only win an occasional $20 or so realize they're losing money?

Most lottery ticket buyers may be low income, but that doesn't mean they're stupid.

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