Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.
- Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
- Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
If I was completely rational I'd bet my house on it when it tips into my favour. I am not completely rational.
It would be rational to bet your house on it if you could repeat the draw an infinity of times, so that the outcome would converge to the expected value.