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Comment by VWWHFSfQ | Hacker News Reader

Sports betting is nothing compared to the massive, state-sponsored gambling enterprise in scratch tickets and lotto.

Biggest scam of all time.

Not a lotto fan, but, in theory, the money collected by state lotteries goes to some sort of public good (scholarships, etc.). Don't get me wrong, I still see them as destructive, but they don't operate with the same intent.

These new sports books are operating purely to enrich the owners of the platform. Ban 'em.

Only poor people buy lottery tickets. These are the people getting their money from government welfare anyway. It's a terrible cycle.

There's also a difference between people who buy lottery tickets religiously, and who buy them once in a while. I like to play once in a while when the jackpots are high, just in case. Unfortunately, the answer to it is really hard, like most issues society faces today.

Yet statistically speaking you're better off buying a ticket when the amounts are low.

Probably. But, it's more enticing when the amounts are high, and the amount I (and my partner) spend on it is minimal.

I don't think that's the case. Most of the expected value comes from the jackpot, and even if a large jackpot means you should expect to share with 1 or 2 other winners, but the large jackpots are easily more than 3x the small ones.

Yeah I occasionally will buy a ticket or two. Not often, but sometimes on a whim I get them. I figure it is probably a slightly healthier version of buying the king size kitkat or snickers in the checkout line. The cost is the same, the satisfaction is just as transient, and I'm not jamming a bunch of sugar in my face.

I've been in an online community where some users do a group buy for certain lottos when the prize is big enough. Sending $2 by paypal/venmo is easier and lower friction that going to one of the stores near me where I can but a ticket myself. I still think it's kinda dumb, but I do plenty of dumb things and I buy one infrequently enough to be ok with it.

If true, that's definitely a US localized thing. The places I've lived in the big winners in the big lotteries are disproportionately often middle class compared to what you'd expect if the large majority of buyers were poor.

> Not a lotto fan, but, in theory, the money collected by state lotteries goes to some sort of public good (scholarships, etc.).

Problem is, state funding for those public concerns are often reduced by the same (or more) amount lottery revenue generates. For example, Florida pitched their state lottery as funding education (amongst other "who could be against this?" programs), yet failed to inform voters that existing funding would ultimately be reduced in a compensatory fashion.

At least they fund the State Park System (in my state as least) -- so much less of a scam than sports betting that funds ... nothing

Nothing? At least you can't play lotto in your pocket.

You definitely can. Many states have lottery apps and "scratch off" games.

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