I've won about £100 on it
that keeps me in tickets for about two years at one a week. I still figure it's worth doing.

here's something about statistics that most people can't comprehend. Just because something is hideously unlikely to happen doesn't mean it won't, and doesn't mean it won't happen more than once.

I'm not under any illusion that I'm going to win the jackpot, but as I've found the lottery to be essentially self-funding I'm going to carry on doing it.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 10:56, 2 replies)

The best I ever did was 80 quid one weekend
Paid for all of my shopping.

Overall, I'm down. I set a limit and stick to it - a couple of draw games and an instant win every couple of weeks. I like the chance of winning, even if mostly I lose.

It's not large sums of money, and I spend far more on beer.

Of course what is evil is their monitoring of your activity. If you decide to go a bit mad with draw games/instant wins using the online site, and then realise you're being daft and scale things back they write to your address and enquire why you're not using it as much. They've also changed the game playing limits, so that it's less useful for restricting your playing.

I'm sure there are worse sites, but if you think you could develop a gambling problem, the National Lottery online site is not a good place to be.
(syllopsium, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 12:37, closed)

hang on
"just because some thing is hideously...... doesn't mean it's not going to happen" ???

Yes it does.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 16:29, closed)

huh?
Ok, most weeks someone does win the lottery. Yeah, so for that particular player the unlikely event of winning actually happened, despite the long odds. When trying to think about things like this, real world examples can be enlightening.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that most people who play the lottery will never win the major prize, and will be down on average (I think lottery pays out about 80% on average?).

I do agree that gambling is essential a tax on the week and stupid (just like speeding fines), or perhaps a voluntary tax on those who are brighter/stronger.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 3:53, closed)