So I was in Georgia yesterday and stopped at a gas station. There were these two dudes sitting at one of the eating tables and had a fucking pile of probably 25+ of those $5/$10/$20 lottery tickets that they were scratching off. They probably didn't have much of a job, if any, seeing as they have nothing better to do at 1 pm than lounge around at a convenience store scratching off lotto tickets. It wouldn't surprise me if they were also on some sort of gov't support (welfare, SS, etc)...what a great investment these people are making!

YAY AMERICA!!!111

2/13/2010 2:33:09 PM

don't feed the troll

2/13/2010 2:33:55 PM

new

2/13/2010 2:34:12 PM

yep. you are paying their way to a winning lotto ticket

2/13/2010 2:34:25 PM

lottery is a "stupid" tax that poor people pay to educate the children of the middle and upper classes

2/13/2010 2:34:30 PM

you know absolutely nothing about them, or their socio economic status

2/13/2010 2:34:43 PM

Quote :

"you know absolutely nothing about them, or their socio economic status"

these guys obviously weren't swimming around in their money pits ala scrooge mcduck

2/13/2010 2:38:46 PM

are you?
are you poor?

2/13/2010 2:39:55 PM

^^ sometimes i get lottery tickets in my christmas stocking and i bet you $1000 i'm richer than you are

and i'm not black.

^

[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 2:40 PM. Reason : .]

2/13/2010 2:40:17 PM

i buy lottery tickets from time to time. i like the rush.

2/13/2010 2:41:37 PM

i only buy them in other states for some reason. i guess i don't like supporting NC's education

2/13/2010 2:42:11 PM

it's their choice to spend their money on lottery tickets.
our government should be sending out checks to the poor anyways (for the, "spending government handout money on lottery tickets argument").
these people know that the lottery is not a means of an income.
these people know that the lottery is a good way to lose money.
don't ruin it for others because you feel bad for morons that waste their money on it.
you're not bitching about the poor buying alcohol, tobacco, drugs, rims, stereos, jewelry, expensive clothing, etc.

[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 2:44 PM. Reason : .]

2/13/2010 2:43:06 PM

^^^^

2/13/2010 2:44:01 PM

Somebody just won 50,000,000 British Pounds today.

2/13/2010 2:48:31 PM

If you steal the roll of lottery tix it's all profit

2/13/2010 2:52:08 PM

I buy $1 scratch off lotto tickets on long road trips. Just kind of something I do. I've probably spent ~$30 and have only won ~$12.

2/13/2010 4:20:52 PM

2/13/2010 4:21:28 PM

ATTN: Anyone that buys lotto tickets.


If that motherfucker Walter sees you buying them, he's going to go and talk shit about you on the internet. Beware and be aware.

2/13/2010 4:22:29 PM

is it really a monetary loss for the government if these people are buying lottery tickets?


that money goes right back into education, tax free.


so poor people are paying for their kids to get better educations, so their kids will learn that scratching off lotto tickets in the fucking gas station isn't a viable path to success, and as a result aren't poor when they grow up




isn't it funny how irony works

2/13/2010 4:26:08 PM

aww boo hoo...looks like EMCE doesn't agree with me


how will I ever get over this??!?!?!

2/13/2010 4:30:01 PM

I don't think you want this beef, son...

2/13/2010 4:30:56 PM

home of the whopper

what's your beef?

2/13/2010 4:34:04 PM

you're right! i'm sitting here crying at the thought of some douche on the internet not liking me

2/13/2010 4:35:00 PM

Walter wants to keep the poor man down.

2/13/2010 4:35:17 PM

keeping the poor man down by not wanting them to make idiotic financial decisions?

2/13/2010 4:37:22 PM

Quote :

"these people know that the lottery is not a means of an income. these people know that the lottery is a good way to lose money."

I don't remember the exact numbers, but a poll was done once and your average heavy lottery player thinks between now and some undefined point they'll have a better chance at earning 500,000 via the lottery than by working.

2/13/2010 4:39:31 PM

I'm waiting for you, boy

2/13/2010 4:40:20 PM

if people want to spend their money on stupid shit, it's their god given right. no one complains when rich people buy ferraris that don'r even re-invest in our economy. come on dude, get the fuck off of it. there's economic forces at play that you obviously don't even partially understand.

2/13/2010 4:41:32 PM

Quote :

"these guys obviously weren't swimming around in their money pits ala scrooge mcduck"

Maybe they're just eccentric billionaires who like games of chance.

2/13/2010 4:44:11 PM

Quote :

"but a poll was done once and your average heavy lottery player thinks between now and some undefined point they'll have a better chance at earning 500,000 via the lottery than by working."

Well, assuming that your average heavy lottery player is typically very poor (say, earning $1,000 per month), then yes, their chances of getting $500,000 via a lottery are much higher than by working their whole life.

(remember, you can't divide by zero)

2/13/2010 4:46:29 PM

If they were dividing by zero then they would be guaranteed to win

2/13/2010 4:54:45 PM

Quote :

"if people want to spend their money on stupid shit, it's their god given right. no one complains when rich people buy ferraris that don'r even re-invest in our economy. come on dude, get the fuck off of it. there's economic forces at play that you obviously don't even partially understand."

Rich people don't live off government programs to buy Ferraris. They buy crap they want with money they made.

Quote :

"If they were dividing by zero then they would be guaranteed to win"

or the world would explode.

[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 4:56 PM. Reason : `]

2/13/2010 4:55:37 PM

Quote :

"If they were dividing by zero then they would be guaranteed to win"

well no.

chance of making 500k by working = 0 (for argument's sake, and true for many poor people)

chance of winnig 500k by lottery > 0

so, chance of winning is infinitely greater than chance of earning.


[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 4:58 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2010 4:56:40 PM

He's got a point.

Time to empty my 401k.

2/13/2010 4:58:21 PM

I'm just saying that the probability in which one has divided by zero guarantees a win whether or not they even play

2/13/2010 4:59:41 PM

Quote :

"He's got a point. Time to empty my 401k."

i was talking about poor people earning 500K over a life time, but the principle works for us as well.

for us, we have to think bigger.

say, the $100,000,000 lotto. chance of earning that in your life time? zero. chance of winning that much? greater than zero.




P.S. Off to bed... another day of slaving away tomorrow, for mere crumbs


[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 5:03 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2010 5:00:36 PM

There's a greater than zero chance that you will switch jobs and make $$$$$

also, keep pretending like you didn't totally fuck up the probability equation when you said it was dividing by zero

2/13/2010 5:03:11 PM

2/13/2010 5:03:53 PM

I remember hearing years ago about an uproar in Australia after some investors bought $5 million worth of lottery tickets out of a possible $7 million in circulation. They ended up winning some huge powerball and pissed off a lot of people.

2/13/2010 5:04:10 PM

I won $2 on my first NC one dollar lottery ticket. I should have quit when I was ahead, but I was a student at the time so I didn't care about losing a few more one dollar bills. The way I saw it, I was reinvesting in my education the hard way, thank you tax payers and lottery addicts.

2/13/2010 5:05:11 PM

Quote :

"Well, assuming that your average heavy lottery player is typically very poor (say, earning $1,000 per month)"

Even working at minimum wage, it would take 33 years to get to 500k, or 17 years to get to the 250k you'll have left after the government takes their chunk of your winnings.

2/13/2010 5:05:23 PM

huh what? you need a basic math lesson?

0.00000001 / 0

= infinity

that doesn't mean that you WILL win, just that the probability of winning is infinitely greater than the probability of earning said amount. how could it be infinitely greater and yet finite, and even so small? because the chance of earning is 0.

you need more explanation?


[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 5:06 PM. Reason : Solinari]

2/13/2010 5:05:28 PM

Quote :

"Rich people don't live off government programs to buy Ferraris. They buy crap they want with money they made."

and people who live off of government programs reinvest that money they get from the government into the lottery, which is another government run program


so people are basically handing the government the money they get for being poor right back, and you're fucking complaining about it



basic failure of economic comprehension by you ITT

2/13/2010 5:26:31 PM

Quote :

"if people want to spend their money on stupid shit, it's their god given right."

Again, how do you resolve this with taking away a bar owners right to allow smoking?

2/13/2010 5:35:40 PM

i'm really curious how we have determined that these people have no jobs and are living off the government based on their being at a convenience store on a saturday afternoon. i haven't showered yet today and this morning on my way home from last night i stopped at the gas station near my house, got a coffee, and talked to the guy that always works there for a bit. am i living off the government?

2/13/2010 5:36:43 PM

Quote :

"yesterday"

reading comprehension

the fact that the city i was in has the second highest poverty rate in GA, I'd say there's a decent chance one or both of the guys fell into that category

[Edited on February 13, 2010 at 5:55 PM. Reason : .]

2/13/2010 5:49:56 PM

If you haven't experienced a scratchers and tallboys night, you're missing out

2/13/2010 5:57:08 PM

Quote :

"Again, how do you resolve this with taking away a bar owners right to allow smoking?"

there's no analog, dude


you're not this fucking dumb


smoking wasn't outlawed, it was banned inside buildings

2/13/2010 5:57:24 PM

Are you really this retarded Nick? A human has a right to do whatever the fuck he wants in one instance but not a right in the other?

How is forcibly protecting humans from harm cool in one instance but not the other.

You're either way dumber than I imagined or doing some very clever trolling.

2/13/2010 6:00:39 PM

set em up

2/13/2010 6:01:32 PM