Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

IIRC, if you're a man there is no age at which you can buy a ticket such that your chances of winning the jackpot are greater than you dying first. I think younger women can just sneak in.

The best result is thus to spend all the money you plan on the latest dated lottery ticket you can buy so as to maximize your dreams and delaying the day when your £? crystallizes into £1 squillion or more likely £0.

They have added 10 more balls the UK lottery since it first started such that the chance of winning is now 1 in 45 million. Surely everyone must more more likely to die during any given week than win a jackpot with those odds. Your chance of being killed in a traffic accident during any given week is about 1 in 1.5 million I think?

michaels

I like the lottery, I think it is great in an age where the state doesn't really trust us to tie our own shoe laces that there can be a tax targeted at those who are poor at maths - although perhaps many who take part are keeping all their receipts in the expectation of getting their money back with interest once it is determined that all the tickets have been miss-sold.

There are always going to be spitters at infant school and i life if you always need to go to the teacher to fight your battles then you will bound to be the target of bullies.

Doozergirl

michaels wrote: »

I like the lottery, I think it is great in an age where the state doesn't really trust us to tie our own shoe laces that there can be a tax targeted at those who are poor at maths - although perhaps many who take part are keeping all their receipts in the expectation of getting their money back with interest once it is determined that all the tickets have been miss-sold.

There are always going to be spitters at infant school and i life if you always need to go to the teacher to fight your battles then you will bound to be the target of bullies.

I've never been spat at. My children have never described being spat at.

If there is bullying it has to be dealt with by the management. If it isn't dealt with, and the school culture is such that bullying is able to breed and reporting to the teacher is not seen as absolutely the right thing to do, then I would remove my child. Any child that witnesses bullying should feel that the school culture promotes dealing with things correctly and that issues are dealt with when they are reported.

Teachers aren't fighting the battle for a child. Battles of that sort are not a child's to fight, they are the staff's responsibilty. Discipline falls within their remit.

It is unacceptable to hit anyone or teach your child that it is okay.

"Bound to be a target for bullies" has a dreadful sense of inevitability about it that I don't understand.

My kids have been to six schools between them and the culture in one was unacceptable to me and I moved DS after the first year. Not because he was bullied, but it was clear quite soon after he started that there were a couple of children that misbehaved, disrupted lessons and became an influence in the classroom. DS started to act like learning wasn't cool and it was clear that the leadership weren't managing those problems. That isn't a problem for my child to deal with, so I moved him as my priority is that he learns in a productive and safe environment and has strong boundaries set in the classroom.

DD has challenging children in her class and school but the teachers are different, the leadership is clearly strongand the children are closely managed in different ways. It doesn't affect her learning and I am impressed at the school's approach and actually think it's a good thing for her to understand that some people are challenging, but see the teachers setting the example of how to manage well.

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

AIUI value of tickets sold > total value of prizes at all times for the lottery in the UK. As a result, unless you gain some pleasure (utility in economic terms) from entering you will always lose on average.

I sometimes enter the lotto because I gain utility from being a maybe millionaire for a few days. The reality is that you are more likely to die before the draw than win.

Wikipedia says 50% to prize fund, 28% to good causes, 12% tax to govt and remaining 10% split between operator and distributors.

Generali

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Wikipedia says 50% to prize fund, 28% to good causes, 12% tax to govt and remaining 10% split between operator and distributors.

On those numbers alone it would take a 3x rollover to make it worth entering but only if there were no minor prizes....which there are.

It's only worth entering as a result if you gain something from the act of entering. I sometimes entered the UK one when I was doing a job I didn't like as it gave me a dream. Now I love what I do I don't feel the need to enter. I go to work with a spring in my step.

silvercar

chewmylegoff wrote: »

They have added 10 more balls the UK lottery since it first started such that the chance of winning is now 1 in 45 million. Surely everyone must more more likely to die during any given week than win a jackpot with those odds. Your chance of being killed in a traffic accident during any given week is about 1 in 1.5 million I think?

I didn't know that. I have the same one line of numbers in every draw. OH was part of a work syndicate 18 years ago, when he left I kept the numbers that were his line. Only because I would be sick if they won and we hadn't kept them going. At some point the cost doubled to £2. I don't check the numbers ever, the rare prize is paid automatically into my bank account. If I win I get an email to tell me my lottery dreams have come true, I then find £10 in the account. Camelot needs to redefine dreams coming true.

As a statistician, I should now be changing the numbers to include some of the higher numbers; if you do win, you want to share with the least number of people. Apparently more people have the first 6 numbers than any other combination by a long way.

chewmylegoff

silvercar wrote: »

I didn't know that. I have the same one line of numbers in every draw. OH was part of a work syndicate 18 years ago, when he left I kept the numbers that were his line. Only because I would be sick if they won and we hadn't kept them going. At some point the cost doubled to £2. I don't check the numbers ever, the rare prize is paid automatically into my bank account. If I win I get an email to tell me my lottery dreams have come true, I then find £10 in the account. Camelot needs to redefine dreams coming true.

As a statistician, I should now be changing the numbers to include some of the higher numbers; if you do win, you want to share with the least number of people. Apparently more people have the first 6 numbers than any other combination by a long way.

Surely the likelihood of, say, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 coming out is no different to 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 55 so changing your numbers to include some of the new ones won't make you any more likely to win?

Generali

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Surely the likelihood of, say, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 coming out is no different to 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 55 so changing your numbers to include some of the new ones won't make you any more likely to win?

Ah yes but changing your numbers to those which others don't pick makes you more likely to win big if you do win.......which you won't.

kabayiri

The UK National Lottery makes a lot of people happy every single week.

They just happen to be Canadian teachers whose pension fund owns Camelot, that's all.

If I could go back in time, I would have awarded the lottery to the Branson not for profit bid.

Do we agree with foreign ownership of the Lottery company? Suppose North Korea owned it....would we be gambling to support H-bomb testing? Hmm...

kabayiri

I knew a couple who won the lottery and ran a pub. I think it was 6 or 7 million.

You'd get idiots coming in to the pub asking for discount on the beer, because they were winners. Sounds a great idea. Turn a viable business into another failed public house.

These winners gave half a million to a local football club. Today, that club is still struggling; still moaning about lack of funds. A wasted investment methinks.