# Do You Buy the Lottery **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772 "2011-09-09T23:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/61 "2011-09-13T14:58:48Z")
Yes, when the jackpot is ridiculously high (say, over $150m). I’ll buy 1 or 2 tickets for each successive jackpot until someone wins. I figure if I win, great, because I’m set for life and most people I care about will be, too, or at least get something really nice/helpful. And if I don’t win, then I’ve just contributed to someone else’s life hopefully being better. It’s harmles for me to pay $1-2 for a day of daydreaming at work. I didn’t even bother with that much playing until a couple years ago. The jackpot got huge (over $200m), and people at work were pooling money together to buy more tickets (30 people, $30, 1/30th of the jackpot). I didn’t like that as much, but I figured I’ll be damned if they win and I’m one of a few people still stuck working while the department gets decimated. After that, I started throwing a dollar at the lottery a bit more often. I haven’t bought scratch-offs in a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/62 "2011-09-13T17:09:21Z")
I don’t recall ever buying a lottery ticket for myself, although my brother and I bought some to give away at an employee Christmas party in 1986. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/63 "2011-09-13T20:16:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > (Oh, and I buy bottled water because our tap water tastes like crap) I used to do that, but now I get it in gallons wholesale. It’s cheaper. And, no, filters don’t quite work. Water softeners work, but those have a heavy initial cost that I could never justify. P.S. Get distilled if you like Aquafina or Sam’s Choice. Get spring water if you like Dasani. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/64 "2011-09-13T20:35:35Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I don’t think the people who won the $228 million Powerball here in Minnesota were anywhere near “poor”. And the guy who won the Megamillion a short while later wasn’t hurting either (“son of a millionaire”). > > And I’ve seen plenty of people in ratty clothing buying stacks of bottled water from Walmart, which makes zero economic sense. Your counterexamples aside, statistically, poor people play the lottery and rich people buy bottled water. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/65 "2011-09-14T01:14:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I used to do that, but now I get it in gallons wholesale. It’s cheaper. > > And, no, filters don’t quite work. Water softeners work, but those have a heavy initial cost that I could never justify. > > P.S. Get distilled if you like Aquafina or Sam’s Choice. Get spring water if you like Dasani. The problem is the big jugs don’t fit in our fridge. And we just get the bottled stuff from Aldis. (If you have an Aldis in your area, GO THERE, it’s great) It’s not that our water needs softeners or anything, it’s just a slight, metallic taste. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/66 "2011-09-14T11:25:10Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > It’s not that our water needs softeners or anything, it’s just a slight, metallic taste. That’s actually the part I like about my tap water. It’s got flavor! ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772/67 "2011-09-17T20:56:47Z")
Almost forgot - I don’t know if you’d call it a lottery as such, but I’ve got money invested in the UK [Premium Bonds](http://www.nsandi.com/savings-premium-bonds) scheme. I regularly win between £25 and £100 at each monthly draw (I’m sure it’ll be the million next month 😛 ) but can always sell them back and get the original money I invested back at any time. No interest as such, but the winnings for lucky-bond holders possibly make up for it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-the-lottery/595772.md?page=3)