Gracie
It is all a numbers game. In the home state there have been a number of vice squad busts of numbers operations that pay $600 to win a numbers bet while the state pays only $500. Some were even giving two shots on the numbers drawn as the state plays the 3 digit game twice a day. The mental thinking of a true numbers player are to pick 3 numbers and play them every day at a $1 straight and a .50 backup. That use to work until the state decided to run the game twice a day and a lot of people quit playing totally.
Another thing for a lottery player to look at are the odds of the games being played. Again back to the home state as they have a 5 number game played daily and the odds there are 1:575,757 to win. Pots have reached over $400,000 as they roll over and not roll down like here in Florida. I don't even think about buying a ticket until that pot hits 300k which is maybe once every 4 or 5 months or so.
Games such as Powerball and Mega Millions are holes to throw your money into. The odds of winning the top prize are out of sight and even winning a lesser prise is not worth wasting your money on.
Before the Powerball and Mega Millions the home state had the normal pick 6 lottery. When it first came out the pots were not growing that often so the income was not there. The state decided to up the numbers pool and thus reduce the numbers of jackpot winners. Again the odds were greater and the pots did grow as did the income. At that time I also had a start limit and would not even buy a ticket until the pot reached 50 million. I did hit 5 out of 6 three times and if that 18 would have been a 38 I would have retired years ago.
Well since the changes the state has made I may only spend $10 for the year as the old saying someone has to win still works.
Oh yeah, it was not until 2010 that the home state approved casino gambling and as yet not one of the approved sites has opened. But then again in the townships where city laws do not apply the "spin to win" Internet cafe are in almost any available building.
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