Comment Re:Conclusion (Score 1) 185
You don't have to be bad at math to play the lottery.
I find that the state lottery significantly increases my happiness during low spots. The Arizona Lotto used to (and may still) have the slogan, "You can't win if you don't play." In fact, if I do play, I am able to daydream of what would happen in the exceptionally unlikely event that I won. How that day would go, how successive days would go, how I could be smart with the money, how I could avoid pitfalls, etc. Heck, I can replay the joke over in my head about the guy stuck on his roof in a flood, avoiding all driftwood, boats and even the helicopter because God would save him. He died and demanded of God why he was allowed to die. God wanted to know who he thought sent all the rescuers! During the times I'm dissatisfied with my job, I can really drag down if I can't daydream about that 1 in 5 million chance I'll win the million bucks -- if I never play, the odds get significantly worse.
For about 6 months, I played the lottery in Vermont weekly. I would gamble $2/week, and pretty much every other week, I would win $4. Against the odds, I broke even for about 4 months before hitting "a dry spell". I kept tossing the money in, and ended up winning $50. Not enough to make a profit, but enough to pay for the hobby and to continue to break even.