Won $20 last night on scratch offs ... after spending $20 on scratch offs. Rarely gamble because it seems like the best you can do is break even. Just something fun to do once in a while.

Total waste of time and money, just like people going to the Casino's.....ugh!! Might as we'll flush it down the toilet, O'but wait a minute ......you get a "free" meal....LOL.

John

Casinos aren't a waste if you don't go in expecting to make money. I can make $200 last the whole weekend, and usually I break even. It should be look at as entertainment exclusively, not a job.

If you look at Casinos as a form of entertainment, then it's just that. Casinos are fun on vacation but I never go to local ones. Most I've won is $777 from a scratcher. I remember looking at the odds when I went to turn it in, 1 in 300,000 of pulling it. I always buy a few $2 scratchers when I stop and get snacks for my overnight shift, gives me something stay awake for at 3am.

When I lived at my previous home, my next-door neighbor's sister's ex-husband won the Powerball when it was *only* like 26M or something. The irony being he purchased and claimed his prize less than 6 months after the divorce was final so she got zippo.

That's 4 degrees of separation, have never actually known a lottery winner

Never won much but seldom play. You can’t lose if you don’t play.

i always laugh at the math whizzes who talk about terrible odds or a tax on the stupid. once the pot is over double the odds, statistically, you're dumb not to play

Exactly! If you count alcohol and all the wonderful people I meet, I profit every time.

Oops

Sorry for the late reply, I just received my Maiden premium a few weeks ago and paid off Stars Wars premium.

I am not a regular lottery player, but every year, my wife puts a few lottery scratch-off tickets in my and all my kid's stockings. My daughter got this yesterday. I've never seen or heard of this before. I swear this is not photoshopped. It's only a $20 win total (well, $18, if you subtract the buy price), but this ticket is crazy!

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A few times a year, the wife and I belly up at a blackjack table. We never lose more than $500’ish a night, and often come out even or ahead. We memorized “basic strategy” years ago.

But yeah, the amount of booze we’ve consumed and people we’ve met are priceless. Some real characters show up at the tables, some good, some bad. Seen some crazy shit over the years. Seen people lose the value of a new car over the course of an hour or two and get livid pissed about it. Seen a few people clean up too, but certainly not as often.

For us, it’s entertainment. We enjoy it more than movies, plays, whatever….

People hear the odds and it doesn't even register how astronomical they are. For instance, hitting the Powerball is 1 in 292,201,338. The number is so big, it's just noise.

Another way to frame those odds: suppose at every drawing, three times a week, you were to buy TEN THOUSAND tickets? Incredibly, simple math informs us that even then, you could only expect to hit the jackpot once every 187 YEARS!

I watched my father piss away money on the lottery for years and win at best pocket change. Don't hold it against him as playing seemed to make him happy but the house always wins.

A contractor I work with won $100,000 on a $5 scratch off. Uncle Sam took $40,000. He buys them each week. Spends about $40. I saw him at the beer store last month with a big smile filling out paperwork. He had just won $2500. 10 min later he was buying more scratch offs before he left. I said they have you hooked. He responded you have to play if you want to win! The only positive thing is he said he puts all winnings in a separate bank acct he has for his kids college.

I see lots of negativity towards gambling/slots/lottery tickets. My wife and I enjoy playing both. Is the system set up to win, of course they are or they wouldn't be in business anymore. If a person is responsible and takes care of all of their obligations does it matter what they spend their money on? Is it really any different then those who buy cigarettes or booze and have nothing to show for it after the fact as well?

And to answer the original OP question. My son just hit $100 on a $10 scratch off we got him for Christmas. We spent $160 on tickets for my 2 sons and combined they won $166.00 Not a bad result this year.

I hit 5 of 6 numbers a week ago on the Texas Lottery. Bought my wife some pans and my daughter a bunk bed.

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Well, I can definitely see the argument against lotto gambling. It's fun because you think you might win big but odds are heavily against you. The more you need money the more "fun" it is.

I did the same for my kids but only $25. Won $26.

I have this at home and enjoy it almost as much as being at the casino. Somehow to me, it’s the thrill of the hunt. Understanding how the odds work, and just the randomness of hitting that magic combination.

I enjoy it so much that I may buy two more machines next week. Honestly pinflation is driving me away from this hobby, and slots are much, much cheaper. 20 years of pinball and the prices as of late just make me mad…..I suppose that’s for another thread.

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My favorite! I love the double/triple diamond games. Especially the deluxe models where they move towards the pay line. Wish I could find some for home at a reasonable price.

Where do you live? If they are legal in your state….you can pick up an older IGT S+ machine for $500, sometimes less. That’s what mine are. Just make sure the battery didn’t leak on the CPU, much like pinball. Replace the battery and they seem to just keep going. I own 2 (one is at my fathers) and my in-laws have one too. The only other thing that really seems to fail is the bill validator, which did fail on mine. $80 for a used one and I’m running again.

I will say they aren’t as easy to work on. Changing the payback is a EEPROM change. Game changes sometimes require clear/set EEPROMs. And the menu system requires a secret decoder ring. Maybe newer ones are easier, all I’ve know is the S+ series….

You mention using the DBV. Do you fill them up and then let your friends play for real?

I buy scratch offs to give out at the holidays. I normally buy about $150 worth. The winners usually add up to about what I spend sometimes more/ sometimes less. Someone almost always wins $50 on a $20 ticket. It’s sad that some people are addicted to gambling but like most things in moderation they are OK!

I’ve won $40 on lottery tickets. I was a dealer at the Casino in Windsor for 19 years. I’ve taken more money than I could possibly count. Wish it were the other way around we were paid more in tips than the Casino paid us. I only go in once a year now for Comic-Con.

Of course he doesn’t, that would be illegal!
I’ve got a few 5cent slot machines. Lots of fun.
I have a few cups of Indian head nickels for guests to use in them.

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I agree! I haven’t been to Vegas in about 12 years but when I visited I always enjoyed playing that specific machine. I would spend about $40 a night on the 25 cent model. My girlfriend won $150 on one. With that win she broke even on what she lost over a 4 day weekend trip.

Wished the slots still cashed out in coins. Loved walking around with a bucket of change. You’re losing but you got that bucket!

15$ was my top.

I go on 2-4 day casino trips several times a year, they are a blast. Just the atmosphere is fun, hanging out with friends, having some drinks, and relaxing. My wife and I enjoy it, we also go with friends. Whatever we bring we are comfortable with losing as our bills, retirement, and savings are always taken care of first. We've also done a pretty good job of putting away winnings whenever we get a good hit on a slot machine, even a "bad" trip now usually means coming back with at least half our money. We typically go to the same place which had led to some pretty good comps and rarely paying for a room (oh I know we are paying for it with what we give them lol).

I don’t let anyone gamble on them. I fill them up with credits and let people play for fun. Have a video poker too, although it’s so old that it’s quarters only. Lots of fun trying to get the royal flush. I’ve had the machine for probably 10 years, never hit a royal flush….

The lottery is not just a waste of money, it's actually worse than that. It's a waste of hope.
Essay:
https://www.greaterwrong.com/posts/vYsuM8cpuRgZS5rYB/lotteries-a-waste-of-hope

I had never bought a scratch off ticket in around 30 years for myself.

My girlfriend loves that stuff, so for Christmas I surprised her with 4 $5.00 tickets.

She won $13, so that was a loss of $7.00, but she had fun, so it was worth it.

(just the smile on her face from now on for birthday or Christmas I will probably keep buying her some scratch offs).

The biggest thing I hate about the lottery stuff is all of the TV commercials talking about "TODAY COULD BE THE DAY"!

I think the lottery should not be spending any money on TV commercials in the first place, and only using the money for schools, so that maybe someday my property taxes may could be lower without so much school tax.

(I do play Cash For Life every now and then, but the odds are better than the other games, and I am still ahead on it, so playing for free pretty much).

I just won $25 on a $5 scratchy.

Thanks to all the Debbie Downers…
I play every so often. My biggest win was on the PowerBall a number of years ago. Had 4 of 5 white balls and the PowerBall. $10,003 (the next line had a PowerBall as well, didn’t notice until I cashed the ticket). The one white ball that didn’t match was one number off. Jackpot at the time was $180 million. But was a nice win that bought a new TV and paid some bills at the time.

They should pay more for that. At least another zero or two on there.

The payouts are pathetic. Two numbers plus Powerball, for instance, will get you a whole $7 for beating 700 to 1 odds.

Makes playing slot machines look like a solid investment strategy by comparison.

Percentage of payout in the lottery is terrible. If you really want to gamble, go play roulette, craps or blackjack; the odds are still in favor of the house, but much better chance of winning if you understand the rules and strategy.

In reality, the lottery is a self imposed tax. Set your limits low and don’t get fooled into losing more. That said, I’ll go my limit tomorrow and purchase 2 powerball tickets. I think that’s gonna be a self imposed tax of about $6

I remember dealing craps and full baccarat halfway through the night we had to get our drop boxes emptied because they were too full of cash. The cash plunger wouldn’t fit in the box anymore. At least once a week the doors that held the coins in the slot machines would pop open from the amount of coin in them.

It’s basically a voluntary tax, raising millions of dollars.

We bought these packs for new years eve fun for the family. 3 $1.00 packs and 2 $3.00 packs. $900.00 total. Our goals is to recoup about 50% of the money spent, anything else is a bonus.

Side note. We explained to both our kids and their girlfriends, that all of our bills get paid, we fully fund our retirement accounts and that all responsibilities are taken care of before things like this get done. Informed them that lots of people are addicts and spend before life's obligations are taken care of first.

I will update how we made out when they are all scratched if anyone is interested.

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Wow. You'll be doing those bingo tickets until the next New Year.

Lol. We asked the kids what they wanted. 1 said the bingo the other said naughty and nice. They are more time consuming but at least it feels like you are getting more entertainment for the money.

I don't buy too many. Some years none, some years I might spend $50 on scratchers. I usually get the crossword ones for the same reason. Five minutes or so of scratching for my $3.

$500 on a cart game off.

Real lottery like $10. I’ve probably lost enough on the real lottery to buy a 40th year edition Elvira

Years ago, I come across web site that showed you all the payouts of lotto scratch tickets. Strategy would be avoiding the games that already payed out most of the prizes. I've heard of some other strategies but not sure how well any of that really helps. One thing is always certain, house always wins.

I matched 5 out of 6 numbers in a state lottery, it was a $2 quick pick, $1 + $1 kicker that increased the winnings by 3x. So I ended up with $3000, of course after the state took 40% tax withholding it ended up being $1800. I was only one number away from being a near millionaire (again after tax withholding it would have been about $600,000).

Since then I have continued to buy $1-2 tickets when any of the big lotteries or the state lottery get to a certain amount. Over the years I would estimate I've won over 400 times, although most of those wins were only $3-$4. But I have matched 4 out of 6 numbers 3 times, which were worth about $100 each. It used to piss of my co-worker who played all the time and rarely won anything. I figure as long as I don't sink a bunch of money into it and continue to win now and then, it's kind of fun. Like putting a quarter in a slot machine...

Have you done that before? How did it work out? Looks like a blast.

When I was 18, I only had 2 bucks in my pocket, so I got a scratch off ticket. I ended up winning 80 bucks. Never won more than that. But whenever I have less than 5 in my wallet, I usually buy scratchers, and I usually get my money back plus a little extra. As far as the state lotteries, I've never won more than 4 bucks.

The results so far. We have to do the $3 books yet. We have bought $1 and $2 books before but not in quantities like this.

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