tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431148274591271115.post3551362046755055186..comments2022-11-04T04:21:56.129-06:00Comments on Musings from the Inkwell: Urge to write another article on the lotteryMorgan Drake Ecksteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258538066497554895noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431148274591271115.post-61641438403605852142013-04-20T18:15:40.480-06:002013-04-20T18:15:40.480-06:00Hopefully I'm not being too much of a smart-as...Hopefully I'm not being too much of a smart-ass by pointing out that most people become rich because of luck, regardless of how hard they work. This is especially true in professions like writing - it takes about the same amount of effort to write just about every novel, but only a tiny handful of them ever touch something in the zeitgeist and go on to become best-sellers.<br /><br />Still, that being said, you're right in that from a game theory perspective a lottery like the Powerball is only worth playing when they payoff is greater than the odds of a win. At 100 million to one against, and since the "cash option" only returns a little over half the posted amount, it's quite rare for that to occur. Statistically, you're almost always better off saving your money.Scott Stenwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12389664381513219613noreply@blogger.com