Poor Lottery Odds

A little over $90 Billion is spent each year on legalized gambling in the U.S. The illegal amount probably far surpasses this figure.

You may wonder why lotteries flourish when odds are generally well in favor of the house, bookie or lottery sponsor and not the player. Lotteries often pay off as little as 60 cents on the dollar. So why bother playing?

Where bookies pay off in tax-free cash and the better is illegally laundering money, poor odds are reduced in favor of the bettor. So much so that the gambler’s net is actually much higher.

But then such a better is gambling on a possible stiff fine or jail sentence if caught. So, the odds continue to remain stupid.