I walked into the Kwik Stop here in Princeton, and since the Mega Millions jackpot was getting big, I figured I’d waste $2 to participate. I figured wrong. The tickets now are $5 to take a bazillion to one shot at winning! I was actually shocked at this, and I really think it’s terrible that our state government has jacked the price up like this; and it’s certainly not because I personally love to play Mega Millions. I do purchase a lottery ticket once in a blue moon because “you never know”, but I never buy scratch tickets ever, except to give as gifts or prizes that Jen donates to charity events (which of course always makes me nervous in case there’s a million dollar winner in the scratch tickets we donated).
The reason I think this price increase is so terrible is because the people regularly participating in these gambling “games” are trying to turn their lives around with one big win, and really all they’re doing is throwing much needed money down the drain in large $5 increments. What the lottery really is, is a tax on people who really need the money, but who don’t understand that the lottery is absolutely impossible to win, given how terrible the odds are. In fact, the people religiously buying scratch and lottery tickets are basically being taxed at a much higher rate than Elon Musk (who I’m sure never buys lottery tickets). If these lotteries were even a remotely good bet, a lot of smart, rich people would be playing, but that’s not who’s holding up the checkout line at the mini malls, picking out scratch tickets they have a feeling might be winners.
It’s people who really need the money who are playing these games, and the government is essentially stealing from them. The odds are far, far better in Vegas than they are here in Mass at the local convenience store, and at least in Las Vegas you get free drinks and a nice hotel for ambiance, rather than just standing around in a convenience store.
On top of the state lottery being a no-win situation, Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus Washington D.C and the U.S. Virgin Islands, so the odds of winning are astronomically low (about 1 in 300 Million), making the odds of losing your $5 about 100%.
I’m by no means saying don’t gamble. If you really think about it, nearly everything in life is a gamble, because there just aren’t many guarantees. Every time you go for a ride in your car, you’re gambling that a car coming the other way isn’t driven by someone drunk. Getting married and having children is a big gamble. Some level of gambling is unavoidable and actually essential to having an interesting life, but simply blowing money in $5 increments isn’t interesting. It’s tossing money out the window.
My strong suggestion is to not buy $5 chances to win Mega Millions. The odds are terrible, and our government should be ashamed of themselves for raising money like this. Remember: if you play this $5 lottery on the regular, the odds of you winning are no better than they ever were, but you are losing an extra $3 every time you buy a lottery ticket. And sure, the jackpot is bigger because the price is now $5, but your odds of winning are still infinitesimal, while the result if you do win is basically the same. You certainly aren’t going to win, but if you did, does the amount really matter to you, if you were to win $40 million or $50 million? No, the change to your life is identical, whether it’s $40 or $50 Million. If you did, through divine intervention, win Mega Millions, you’ll have plenty of money regardless of what the state charges for tickets. And don’t forget…lottery winnings are taxed by both the state of Massachusetts and the federal government as regular income. Gambling can be a lot of fun, and in intelligent gambling there are levels of skill as well as luck involved, such as betting on sports, horse races, cards, and just about anything except government sponsored lotteries.
By boosting the cost to $5 a ticket the government is really hurting the people who most need the money, which is the people who are looking to turn their life around with one big hit. If you want to gamble, go to Vegas or gamble online on sports. The odds are so much better and it’s a lot more fun to hang out in Vegas or even on your computer, compared to simply handing over five dollar bills, over and over, to the government.
