In looking at it, from the report she stole 2.3 million over 3 years and about 5 months. It doesn’t say she spent all of it on the lotto but even if she did that comes out to an average of about $1800 per day. Still an outrageous amount of course but not quite the same as $6000 per day.
The original story said “as much as $6,000 a day”.
I know. There was mention a couple times in this thread (well, one direct and a few that allude to) that she spent 6000 per day, I was just breaking down the numbers for a closer average.
From the article:
She would just have spent that money too.
No matter much you spend, the odds are stacked against you.
That’s the thing…unless you have amazing stroke of luck & buy a ticket once or twice and hit the multi-million-dollar payoff, you will always be in the red. Habitual players always spend more than they win in the long run. It wouldn’t work any other way.
I once had a coworker who was addicted to those damn things. She would spend her lunch hour scratching them.
She also complained about being broke all the time. She never made the connection.
I spend a few bucks a week on Lotto. That few bucks give me the abilty to have a few pleasant daydreams about “what would I do if I won the Lotto”, and for that, it’s well worth it.
I have a coworker like this. Sometimes she hits me up for money!
In New Mexico, the rolls are worth $300. So that’s 300 $1 tickets, 150 $2 tickets, and so on, all the way up to 15 $20 tickets. I’ve seen displays that can handle 20 packs, so if all packs were new that’s $6000 right there.
One word lady: DETERRANCE
I once told her, “Um, you really shouldn’t play those things. It’s a one-way ticket to destitution.”
Her response?
“I’ve been playing these for years, and I’ve won a LOT more money than I’ve spent!!”
It was then I learned you cannot reason with people who live in denial.
Another word: DICTIONARY!
sorry - couldn’t resist!
Aren’t they more worried about the crocodiles?
She would have done better just keeping the money she embezzled. And I’m sure she was thinking “When I win big, I’ll pay the money back” :rolleyes:
I think it’s pretty clear that’s not going to work in these sorts of cases. Deterrence relies on people understanding something about probabilities of being caught and being punished. Someone who plays lotteries like this doesn’t understand (or can’t act as if she understands) the law of large numbers.
“Tell me how you’re helping me?” Lady, after the first couple million, the problem is not that you need help from others; it’s that you are way too adept at “helping yourself”.
She should ask the judge for an additional, consecutive sentence, in the hopes of winning early release on that second sentence.
Sailboat
Damn, that’s cold Sailboat.
I daydream all the time about what I would do if I won the Lotto. I do it without buying any tickets, you can too! My daydream is that one day I’ll buy a ticket and I’ll win. Then I spend a happy few minutes thinking what I will do with all that money.
Or you can daydream that you will find the winning ticket in the street (the odds of that are probably not that much worse than actually buying a winning ticket.)
Not that I want to discourage you from your small expense, but daydreaming doesn’t really require you to spend money.