Damn Lottery

[bjarvis]

Bad news: we didn't win the $179 million Powerball lottery jackpot last night.

Good news: No one else did either, and the pot is now $203 million.

I have some uses for dollar figures like that... :-)

Comments

[allanh.livejournal.com]

The All Join Hands Foundation!

What? Whaaaaaaaat? [ducking]

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, AJH would get a chunk up front instead of having to wait for me to die to collect it from my estate. I think it would be nice to, say, use AJH to fund a convention in which not a single dancer needed to pay a registration fee to attend.

Or bribe the organizers not to have a honky-tonk queen contest. :-)

Or I could use it to pay Rick Hawes' bar tab. :-) :-) :-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

> Or I could use it to pay Rick Hawes' bar tab. :-) :-) :-)

I'm not sure twenny-odd million would be enough for that. Don't forget, you'd have to factor in all of the sexual harassment lawsuits that would ensue ...

Convention

[ann0625.livejournal.com]

Or hire pros to do ALL the work, so the clubs don't have to worry about learning from scratch. We still haven't decided if we will bid for 2011.

Re: Convention

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I dunno... GALA Choruses' quadrennial festivals have become bland & institutionalized since they chose to use in-house professionals only to produce them. Having the locals work on the conventions is exhausting but it does make for a better convention overall, I think.

And I do hope Atlanta does bid in 2011!

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

Normally I'd be supportive, but I happen to know I have the winning numbers for tonight - sorry about that. However, as a conciliatory gesture, if I win the whole thing outright tonight, I'll pick up the tab for your sister's wedding :-)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Five of Six will be most pleased, as will my chequing account! :-)

Damn...

[rockvillewoof.livejournal.com]

Nobody I know won either...but Sat night looms large. When do I get a tour of the house, now that I've seen the abode at Roseland? ;-)

Re: Damn...

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

If you win the Powerball on Saturday, we'll cancel all other bookings to give you our undivided attention at the earliest possible moment! :-)

Failing that, we're booked the next two weekends but I think we're clear the first weekend of October...

Re: Damn...

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

What about that "houseboy" you've been talking about hiring????? HHMMMM!!

Re: Damn...

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

So many candidates, so many *ahem* interviews to be conducted...

Hell, we may need an entire staff! :-)

Re: Damn...

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

I'm SURE that can be arranged!!! LOL

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

lotteries are a tax on people who can't do statistics, y'know

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

That's only half true.

Consideration #1:
Odds of winning if you never buy a ticket: zero
Odds of winning if you buy a single $1 ticket: non-zero.
Yes, the odds of winning are inifinitismally small, but there's a huge statistical difference between zero and non-zero.

Consideration #2:
Cost of a lottery ticket for cheap entertainment: $1
Cost of a move ticket for cheap entertainment: $9 (ignoring the $$$ for drinks & popcorn)
$1 < $9, therefore lottery ticket is cheaper entertainment.

Lotteries are a tax on stupidity iff the purchaser actually actually expects to win or the purchaser has used funds which were required for essentials instead of discretionary spending. For most of the rest of us, it's just a cheap passing amusement.

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

Consideration #1:
Odds of winning if you never buy a ticket: zero
Odds of winning if you buy a single $1 ticket: non-zero.
Yes, the odds of winning are inifinitismally small, but there's a huge statistical difference between zero and non-zero.

Consideration #1A
Odds of losing if you never buy a ticket: zero
Odds of losing if you buy a single $1 ticket: better than even.

I don't know the rates for whatever outfit runs your lotteries are, but the Ontario Lottery Corporation pays out 41c for every dollar intake. Meaning that for every $100 investors customers put in, they will get back $41, and lose $59. Sounds like a mug's game to me.

There's a large difference between losing zero and losing over $30 a year, assuming one $1 ticket a week. There's a huge statistical difference between losing nothing and losing 59% of your investment.

Lotteries are a tax on stupidity ...

I didn't say that. I'm just pointing out that they're a tax on those who can't do statistics.

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

World peace?