I think it would be interesting to have a version where the chosen numbers were the same every time. We all know the odds won't change but there are countless people who play the lottery this way. They have "their" numbers and they never deviate for fear that if they do, that's when "their" numbers would pop up and they'd miss out on the win.

A few years ago I wrote a script to compare my numbers against all previous drawings. Still didn’t “win”!

I think people understand the odds are small. However, perhaps they perceive their chances of meaningfully turn around their life in other ways have even smaller odds. i.e. improbable vs actually impossible. At least the lottery doesn't care about your current circumstance and everyone has an equal (equally small) chance.

Secondly, because everyone realizes the chances are small, the real product being sold is Hope. Even the advertisements for the lotteries address this. The thing you're buying is 30 seconds of daydreaming so you can comfortably tackle the rest of the day.

I would be really curious to see the money side of this. I am not sure about Powerball, but with EuroJackpot, some of the smaller wins can cover the cost of the ticket (or even cover a holiday!).

It would be really interesting to watch the expected value play out over repeated plays!! I am imagining a running balance where you keep track of total spend versus total returns. Most of the time the balance steadily goes more negative, with occasional jumps back up when you hit a partial match, and very rare big spikes from a larger win.

Very cool project!

I just saw a 57.1% percent match go by.. That sure would have convinced me to buy more tickets.. :-)

Neat. I like that multiple clients get the same websocket data, as opposed to each just running their own simulation. I will be watching https://lotteryeverysecond.lffl.me/wins with interest. ;)

What I love about this is how it demonstrates that the waiting is the most powerful part. That week is where a lotto user’s brain does all the work for the lotto corp. The anticipation! The excitement. What if? Oh let’s daydream! Oh the dopamine!

You don’t even have to sell them hope. Just sell them the sensation of hope.

> Approximately 4.6 years of continuous play, every second, to see a single jackpot win.

This seems pretty reasonable, actually! Somehow it makes the 320M seem manageable.

I think for most people, they just think _someone_ will win eventually and you can't win if you don't play, so why not part with some (hopefully) disposable income that could turn their entire life around.

The Company has never existed, and never will.

https://archive.org/download/HeliganSecretsOfTheLostGardens/...

So you're telling me there's a chance

The amount of time I spent watching this page is a nice reminder of why I have a rule to never buy lottery tickets.

See also: Simulation Clicker.

I know how my brain works these days.

The odds of winning are so low that I tell people the odds that they will just give me the money even though I bought no ticket can’t be much lower.

Good idea to show the odds. I wouldn’t be able to remember the name to send to someone

Maybe try shouldIplaythelottery.com

Interesting site. Logic is rather easy, setting you the WEB site to present the results to me is rather hard.