Lottery Is a Bad Bet

Letters

July 8, 2010

Anonymous CNHI The Commonwealth Journal Thu Jul 08, 2010, 08:23 AM EDT

Somerset — Dear Editor:

I was pondering the “Lottery” the other day and decided to check out their Web site.

It’s there that I found something curious. As I was scanning the “winners” list, I noticed that the majority of winners were located north and west of the Lexington area. With the exception of one person in the Somerset area, practically all winners who won more than $10,000 were nowhere near the southeastern region, but I would like to propose a solution to this discrepancy. Stop buying Lottery tickets!

I’m fully aware that may sound like the words of those who oppose the lottery as a whole, but I admittedly buy chances myself. I propose this moratorium to see if my suspicions are correct or just a figment of my imagination.

So, if the laws of supply and demand are still in play, my little experiment should have a modicum of possibility, to wit: the less tickets bought in an area the more “winners” will eventually appear.

The greatest number of “big” winners are in the Louisville area. Of course, this can be explained by population alone, the greater the number of people the greater number of winners. In other words, the more people buying tickets the greater likelihood of more winning tickets. I’ll give you that, but I contend that basic laws still come into play.

I do not wish to do harm to the retailers, who will lose more than the Lottery, but I say that if everyone stops buying tickets of all sorts the retailers will see an increase in their take. Simply put, if the lack of sales bring about more “winners” the retailers will see a greater return.

Seems pretty simple to me.

I’ll admit openly that this all sounds conspiratorial, but explain this little oddity to me.

In the course of approximately one 12-month period the state of Kentucky had three, count them, three winning Powerball tickets purchased in the state. They were purchased on the border areas of the state with West Virginia, Tennessee and Indiana. At the same time these states were mulling the possibility of having lotteries of their own. They had to pick a big draw to anchor their games, each of these states chose the Powerball as their big game. I’ll leave you to decide the ethics of this.

So, given all that, I suggest to get more “winners” stop buying chances on the lottery and see for yourself.

Thank you for your time.

David Anderson

Somerset, KY 42501

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