Making losing even easier

BC Lottery Corporation transit poster for mobile ticket purchase, Vancouver, BC

The odds of winning the big prize in Lotto Max, picking the right 7 numbers out of a possible 49, is 1/28,633,528. A ticket is $5.00 and that gives you three plays.

By my calculations, if the main prize is over $47,722,547  then it makes mathematical sense to buy a ticket. The payback based on value of the prize is higher that the odds of winning.

But lotteries, and all gambling make money because people lose. (I remember reading a statistic that the average gambler in Las Vegas loses about $175.00 per trip.)

So, the easier you can make it to people to buy tickets than the more money the lottery corporation makes. A slippery slope, but as government around the world have come to reply more and more on lottery revenues to fund general spending, they are in a conundrum of promoting the winning experience to get  people to buy tickets, while at the same time encouraging "responsible gaming".

Will this technology increase ticket purchases? I think so. Will it increase sales among younger consumers? Absolutely. Will younger consumers lose more money? Of course, we'd be fools to think otherwise. And as the proverb goes, " A fool and his money are soon parted".