Big Jon’s dad:
I also can’t see why a rollover changes the chances of winning.
It doesn’t, but the prize fund is greater.
Big Jon’s dad:
If the normal prize is 2 to 3 million, isn’t that enough for anyone to be comfortable for life?
Give it 18 months and it won’t be enough to buy a loaf of bread, people will be emptying it out in order to steal the wheelbarrow you were taking it to the shop with 
Harry Monk:
Big Jon’s dad:
I also can’t see why a rollover changes the chances of winning.It doesn’t, but the prize fund is greater.
Big Jon’s dad:
If the normal prize is 2 to 3 million, isn’t that enough for anyone to be comfortable for life?Give it 18 months and it won’t be enough to buy a loaf of bread, people will be emptying it out in order to steal the wheelbarrow you were taking it to the shop with
A minute ago you were an greedy optimist when you thought you might win. Now you want to play the pesimism card. Tch, you want to face both ways Harry.
Harry Monk:
Two points here…
- Somebody wins it.
Yeh, but it ain’t gonna be you…
Harry Monk:
2. If I buy a pint of beer then that is money down the drain. My odds on winning a fortune because of buying a pint of beer are even poorer.
Did you enjoy the beer though? If you did then you had value for money. Not so, when your lottery ticket is duff. All you got was a spoiled dream.
Big Jon’s dad:
. I guess some people were born to be losers, eh?
Oh maybe I’d be better off spending that £1 on a packet of razor blades if I’m such a loser? 
but on a more positive way of looking at being a loser is’nt there a saying that everyone loves a loser? I Just need to find me somebody to love (Yep loser there too!), maybe I could bump into him in that queue for my losing lottery ticket?
xtruckerlady:
I have a go when I remember and have had a few small wins - think the biggest was about £75, but I always look on the lottery as a pounds worth of dreams for a week. I do think the top prize should be limited to 1 million, and the prize value for 4 numbers should be higher but any extra (prize money) should go the the NHS.
Noooooo! The NHS should be junked.
SamIam:
Big Jon’s dad:
. I guess some people were born to be losers, eh?Oh maybe I’d be better off spending that £1 on a packet of razor blades if I’m such a loser?
but on a more positive way of looking at being a loser is’nt there a saying that everyone loves a loser? I Just need to find me somebody to love (Yep loser there too!), maybe I could bump into him in that queue for my losing lottery ticket?
We’re all losers Sam. Otherwise we’ed be somewhere else instead of wasting our time here.
Hmm, that’s a deep thought for this time of day. Must look for my medication…
Big Jon’s dad:
I guess advertising works as the greed kicks in and we forget the odds are still crap.
I must respectfully disagree with you here. I am not particularly greedy, but the jackpot has been falling for several years now and it is typically 4-5 million pounds these days. By the time I had shared this out with family and friends, there would be about a million pounds left, on which I would be lucky to earn £40,000 a year in interest.
And I also have a full understanding of “odds”- in an earlier life I was an amusement machine engineer and you would never see me putting money into a fruitie (I get a very sadistic pleasure from chatting to people who play them on the Dover-Calais ferry and asking them how they do playing them. They all win a fortune out of them. 
. Just not today 
)
But losing a pound on a lottery ticket is such an insignificant disappointment that it doesn’t even register, and it is far healthier to spend a pound on a lottery ticket than on a Mars Bar. And even if you lose, a considerable amount of money goes towards buying minibuses for disabled people to have a day out, helping villagers to restore their cricket pavilion etc.
To be honest, I think you are having a bit of a troll 
Harry Monk:
Big Jon’s dad:
I guess advertising works as the greed kicks in and we forget the odds are still crap.I must respectfully disagree with you here. I am not particularly greedy, but the jackpot has been falling for several years now and it is typically 4-5 million pounds these days. By the time I had shared this out with family and friends, there would be about a million pounds left, on which I would be lucky to earn £40,000 a year in interest.
Share? Are you nuts?
Harry Monk:
And I also have a full understanding of “odds”- in an earlier life I was an amusement machine engineer
Aha, a similar job to my own. I see why you understand the odds. Gambling machines do not lose money. They are another way of lightening peoples wallets and pockets. I repair hairdressing equipment and previously I repaired time recording equipment and master clock systems.
Harry Monk:
But losing a pound on a lottery ticket is such an insignificant disappointment that it doesn’t even register, and it is far healthier to spend a pound on a lottery ticket than on a Mars Bar.
I quite like Mars bars. Don’t pay a pound for them though.
Harry Monk:
And even if you lose, a considerable amount of money goes towards buying minibuses for disabled people to have a day out, helping villagers to restore their cricket pavilion etc.
Maybe but the lottery has become an excuse not to fund these worthy activities in other ways
Harry Monk:
To be honest, I think you are having a bit of a troll
I wouldn’t call it trolling as I genuinely don’t buy lottery tickets. I do wonder why other people do buy them and why they get taken in by a rollover. I have tried to extract some enjoyment out of the exchanges. Is that trolling?
Harry Monk:
Big Jon’s dad:
I also can’t see why a rollover changes the chances of winning.It doesn’t, but the prize fund is greater.
Big Jon’s dad:
If the normal prize is 2 to 3 million, isn’t that enough for anyone to be comfortable for life?Give it 18 months and it won’t be enough to buy a loaf of bread, people will be emptying it out in order to steal the wheelbarrow you were taking it to the shop with
Carryfast:
Harry Monk:
Big Jon’s dad:
I also can’t see why a rollover changes the chances of winning.It doesn’t, but the prize fund is greater.
Big Jon’s dad:
If the normal prize is 2 to 3 million, isn’t that enough for anyone to be comfortable for life?Give it 18 months and it won’t be enough to buy a loaf of bread, people will be emptying it out in order to steal the wheelbarrow you were taking it to the shop with
Don’t you start on about 6 x 4 rigid wheelbarrows either CF. 
Big Jon’s dad:
I wouldn’t call it trolling as I genuinely don’t buy lottery tickets. I do wonder why other people do buy them and why they get taken in by a rollover. I have tried to extract some enjoyment out of the exchanges. Is that trolling?
About rollovers…
Suppose I operate a dice game. I have five marks and each pay me a pound to take part in the game. The winner gets £5 if their number turns up.
For the mark, this is statistically not a good bet. However, since there are five marks and six faces on a dice, on one in six games nobody will win.
When this happens, I roll the prize money over and the prize on the next game is £10.
Now, the marks are paying £1 for a 6/1 chance to win £10. The odds are in their favour.
I love the psychology of gambling, although I do not gamble myself, apart from the National Lottery and a tenner on the Grand National in the Spring- again, I fully expect to lose my stake as my strategy never goes beyond picking a horse called something like “Sarah’s ■■■■” because I like the name.
Just for you, a picture of my boudoir
The machine on the right is a Ruffler & Walker “Win a Penguin” Allwin. You put a penny in and flick a ball around a track. If you win, you get a Penguin bar which, when it was made, only cost a penny anyway. (I restored this machine myself).
It’s not about identifying a bargain way of obtaining something, it is about laying yourself open to the vagaries of fortune
Nice Ikea chest of drawers!
Wheel Nut:
Nice Ikea chest of drawers!
I have been all around this world of ours but one place I have never been in my life is IKEA… I very much doubt there is one within 50 miles of me
I dont play, making myself poorer to make someone else richer aint right.
They say it is the poor mans tax. I stopped playing, i added how much ive pumped in over the years compared to what ive won i was something like - 950quid worse off.
Id rather just stick a pound on a 18 team accumulator at least it gives me something to look out for on a saturday afternoon a bit of value for my pound being wasted.
Harry Monk:
About rollovers…Suppose I operate a dice game. I have five marks and each pay me a pound to take part in the game. The winner gets £5 if their number turns up.
For the mark, this is statistically not a good bet. However, since there are five marks and six faces on a dice, on one in six games nobody will win.
When this happens, I roll the prize money over and the prize on the next game is £10.
Now, the marks are paying £1 for a 6/1 chance to win £10. The odds are in their favour.
Err no, the odds are still the same as the first game, the prize is bigger but the chances of winning aren’t. If the same people played then they have paid £2 each to play for a prize pot of £10. Also there is no chance of having to share the payout. Finally the odds in your game are infinitely better than the lottery.
I’d also like to know why anyone would pay out 100% of the stake as prizes. That is the road to ruin.
Harry Monk:
Just for you, a picture of my boudoirThe machine on the right is a Ruffler & Walker “Win a Penguin” Allwin. You put a penny in and flick a ball around a track. If you win, you get a Penguin bar which, when it was made, only cost a penny anyway. (I restored this machine myself).
It’s not about identifying a bargain way of obtaining something, it is about laying yourself open to the vagaries of fortune
That isn’t gambling though is it? It’s a game of skill surely 
Is that a time recording clock I see next to the dresser?
Big Jon’s dad:
Is that a time recording clock I see next to the dresser?
Yes, the small machine to the left of the Allwin is an early 20th Century LNER railway block instrument and the machine which is mostly out of view is a Gledhill-Brooks time recorder. I bought that as scrap and got it working too
merc0447:
They say it is the poor mans tax. I stopped playing, i added how much ive pumped in over the years compared to what ive won i was something like - 950quid worse off.Id rather just stick a pound on a 18 team accumulator at least it gives me something to look out for on a saturday afternoon a bit of value for my pound being wasted.
You’re right. It is normally the poorer members of society who play the lottery. When you next see the queue in the newsagent to buy lottery tickets, have a look how many of the punters look affluent and how many look like they don’t have 2 ha’pennys to rub together. You won’t see many doctors, lawyers, accountants, or business owners purchasing lottery tickets. The one exception is the micro business owner who often hasn’t very much business savvy to start with.
Harry Monk:
Big Jon’s dad:
Is that a time recording clock I see next to the dresser?Yes, the small machine to the left of the Allwin is an early 20th Century LNER railway block instrument and the machine which is mostly out of view is a Gledhill-Brooks time recorder. I bought that as scrap and got it working too
Nice. I have an International Time Recording master clock in an oak case from my days as a time clock engineer. I converted it to wind itself up with a synchronous motor so it wouldn’t clunk every minute.