Lottery curse claims another victim

[startraitor]

Some are just really smart.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2011/08/texas_lottery_winner_genius.php

 

[nillionaire]

Quote from Eight:

There is a worse curse than winning!! I worked with a woman that played all the time, she had a dream that told her some numbers to play and she did. She did not play her numbers that she played every single time before. Her favorite numbers all hit, the numbers from the dream did not. She was devastated, she walked in to work mumbling to herself and hanging on to the walls to help her navigate.. I saw an options trader do the same thing after the crash of '87, mumbling and touching the walls everywhere he walked.

She couldn't afford to buy 2 lottery tickets?

 

[Illum]

My grandfather played the same numbers for 40 years, nothing. That's a real curse, curse of stupidity. Great guy and all, but you'd figure even a dope would give up after a decade.

 

[Spike Trader]

Quote from marketsurfer:

Of course his kidney failure had nothing to do with his death. It was the curse!!

. . . .

 

[peilthetraveler]

Quote from Illum:

My grandfather played the same numbers for 40 years, nothing. That's a real curse, curse of stupidity. Great guy and all, but you'd figure even a dope would give up after a decade.

Actually, sometimes its not about winning. There is a cheap high that many people get when playing the lottery. It actually makes people feel good to have purchased a ticket so they can dream for a while.

I think its a little bit like smoking, but without ruining your health. They feel good when they do it, and its only a few bucks. I mean...its like one less starbucks coffee per week that they cant buy. No big deal.

And hey...at least they are contributing to the education system when they buy a ticket and giving the rest of the money to some broke loser instead of a rich corporation.

 

[clearinghouse]

Quote from Eight:

There is a worse curse than winning!! I worked with a woman that played all the time, she had a dream that told her some numbers to play and she did. She did not play her numbers that she played every single time before. Her favorite numbers all hit, the numbers from the dream did not. She was devastated, she walked in to work mumbling to herself and hanging on to the walls to help her navigate.. I saw an options trader do the same thing after the crash of '87, mumbling and touching the walls everywhere he walked.

I feel like I could turn this into a movie on Lifetime: "Eat, Pray, Lotto", ... featuring Susan Sarandon and Rick Moranis.

 

[bone]

Quote from peilthetraveler:

And hey...at least they are contributing to the education system when they buy a ticket and giving the rest of the money to some broke loser instead of a rich corporation.

1. Not nearly as much goes to education as you think - there are copious accounting tricks and sleight-of-hand shell games going about to shore up broader State spending. Dumbass States have been selling their lotteries to private investors in exchange for a quick cash infusion. So, in essence, the proceeds go to paying off existing debt. Also, most States do not keep lottery proceeds segregated from other general education funds - so a shell game gets played with local property tax receipts and matching federal funds. Many States like Florida, Michigan, and Oklahoma are trying to eliminate the 35 % mandate altogether.

2. It has been said that lotteries are a tax on people who are bad at math.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/business/07lotto.html?pagewanted=all

For years, those states have heard complaints that not enough of their lottery revenue is used for education. Now, a New York Times examination of lottery documents, as well as interviews with lottery administrators and analysts, finds that lotteries accounted for less than 1 percent to 5 percent of the total revenue for K-12 education last year in the states that use this money for schools.

 

[murray t turtle]

Quote from the4xczar:

"...money doesn't last long when so many are paid for by so few."

Interesting...I know for some reason a lot of Euro Socialists post on this board (never been able to figure out that one). In a more macro sense, it's the major reason why socialism doesn't work.

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4x-R;
WEll i asked one lottery winner if he ever won any??No, he said , but he came close, he said. And most gamblers dont have good work habits.[not to mention a rather low understanding of stats].LOL

Its a stupid tax on people that can not do math.Also, Dr Stanley[Millionaire Mind book writer] noted all the time wasted , waiting in line.....so they lose more than money