this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2025
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The lottery is a scam (lemmy.ml)
submitted 4 days ago by daggermoon@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.ml
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[–] r00ty@kbin.life 27 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Well it's not a scam. It works exactly as advertised. But, just like in casinos, the house is always the winner.

I made a multi-threaded UK lottery simulator that draws 68 million lotteries per second on my machine. It shows the ROI on average is around 30% meaning the "house" (lottery company/government/charities) gets 70%. Here's the last line after 5.1billion draws:

Draws: 5,130,046,351. 3: 56,022,165, 4: 2,521,545, 5: 38,525 5+b 5,918 Jackpots: 113. Losses: 2,491,081,393. Cost £10,260,092,702, Winnings £3,058,100,000 ROI: 29.810%. 68,548,225.400 draws/s

Yes that means you will wait on average 45.4 million draws before you hit the jackpot.

In any case. You could implement the meme like the lottery and make money and I assure you, if you made the full info public people WOULD send you money and you'd keep the 70%..

[–] frostedtrailblazer@lemmy.zip 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I would say the scam is convincing people that they are lucky and that they specifically will eventually hit it big in their lifetime. This exact gimmick is what prevents some people from voting against their best interests because they could one day hit it big at the lotto and be in the big leagues! Assuming they don’t blow all that wealth on poor financial decisions in the few years thereafter or win at all for that matter.

[–] naeap@sopuli.xyz 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm not sure, if a hypothetical lotto win is really the reason or even the excuse - anymore?

[–] frostedtrailblazer@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago

It is with my in-laws at least; well for some of them. It’s how they envision coming on top in their American Dream. They get to spend their weeks pumping themselves up thinking it’s their turn next to win and envisioning all the things they’ll get to do with all that money.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Any insurance works like a Lottery

[–] ILoveUnions@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Insurance is risk adverse behavior. Lotteries are the opposite. Insurance is important no matter what type of society you have, because it's always important to have resources ready for disasters

[–] int32@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

True, but also maybe insurances shouldn't be companies. Their buisness model is based on fear.

[–] ILoveUnions@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago

Absolutely I agree. At a minimum they should be required to be non-profit, and really they should be government services for the necessary insurances like medical insurance.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It was invented basing on bets in Shipping Companies, about if the oversee shipping reach the haven or not. Insurances are in essence bets over determinated risks or issues and they never lose. You pay an quote through your whole life for something, eg your health and in case you have an accident, they pay the costs (or not or only a part, at least in the US), if not, you had payed for nothing, never they pay what their users had apported with their quotes in a lot of years. They always gain a lot of money with it, because of this there are a lot of insurance companies of any kind. it's a gold mine. In the Lottery it's also an risk which you pay, you can pay regulary for the Lotto and you can have luck and you gain some money, or bad luck and buying Lotto your whole life and never gain a cent. In essence the same as in a insurance, paying through your whole life and never need it. Not so different, the risk is always for you, not for the company, these always pay only a small fraction of their incomming,

[–] ILoveUnions@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Insurance as a monetary concept was invented for the shipping industry. But insurance is not just monetary. It's also the grain silos you fill in case of a famine. The water cisterns you fill for drought. It is absolutely not just pay money and get money out if you get hurt

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 days ago

Pascal's gambler

[–] iveseenthat@reddthat.com 1 points 4 days ago

Missing a ":"