Archive for the 'The Lottery and Alabama' Category

Living in the “Bible Belt”

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Day 5, Entry #7 with Cory Patton discussing the Mega Million jackpot and the pros and cons of the lottery.
I agree with you both. Being in the Bible belt stops the south from being more progressive. There are exceptions like Atlanta, Charlotte, Austin, Nashville, etc., that have more liberal minded people that make more rational decisions for there community.
I think if we revoted on the lottery, we would get it. It would differ from the alcohol vote. I don’t think the religious crowd would vote against it. A good percentage of them all traveled to Georgia to get tickets. I’m pretty sure they’d rather keep the money here than give it to another state

A political albatross

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Day 4, Entry #6 with Rennie Jackson discussing the Mega Million jackpot and the pros and cons of the lottery.
At some point, and it might as well be now, we’ll eventually have to discuss why it is that we don’t have a lottery in Alabama. The last I remember hearing about this matter was some politician running for governor whose platform was a statewide referendum regarding a lottery in Alabama. Obviously, he wasn’t elected and I can’t even remember his name, but I do remember thinking at the time that it was an interesting and long overdue proposition that I believe the majority of voters in this state would embrace.
Although the candidate wasn’t elected, he obviously felt as though the voters of this state would respond positively to the opportunity to vote on a state lottery, enough so to base a whole campaign on. It may have been a case of “man cannot live on bread alone” or as it tranlates to Alabama voters, “Alabamians will not vote for a candidate with just a single campaign platform. Even if it is the lottery”.
Since that time, I’ve heard very little regarding a lottery here in Alabama. Is this issue such a political albatross that no candidate will dare touch it? Obviously, I am of the opinion that should there be a referendum on the matter, that it would pass overwhelmingly. People may be dense enough to drive to Georgia or Florida to buy lottery tickets, but even they realize that they could eliminate that drive and possibly even realize that the money they wager would benefit the very state in which they reside.

Way to go, Bama

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Day 3, Entry #5 with Cory Patton discussing the Mega Million jackpot and the pros and cons of the lottery.
Well when I look at it, The hysteria was the brainwashing of society. People where stopping what they where doing just to see the Mega Millions Number. It was everywhere. The media is just a power weapon.  That what makes people want to drive 2 hours, to try to win the “big” bucks. It’s 650+ million dollars. It makes them commited to the mass. If people are  doing it, I’m doing it. People like to be in the in crowd; they stay with the pack.
I’m mean, a few weeks ago, all people talked about was Kony 2012. Then it was switch to Mega Millions. I’m just wondering what the next big craze will be. People don’t care about the lottery now that it’s over. They just know they didn’t win.
I wish Alabama did the lottery. We need that money that we’ve been giving to Geogria. I remember when they first came with the idea. They voted it down. Despite how it would of sent thousands of Alabama high school students to school. Now where just giving Georgia the money when we could be using it ourselves. Way to go, Bama.

More participation, higher chances

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Day 2, Entry #4 with Jeremy Satcher discussing the Mega Million jackpot and the pros and cons of the lottery.
It’s technically Tuesday, and I’m going to be shotgunning work all day, so I’ll post now.
I’d like to hear more from Cory, specifically about the whole hysteria angle and how ridiculous the situation is if you take a step back from it.
In my earlier post, I mentioned how foolish a person has to be to  believe that they have a winning chance of coming out ahead when gambling. For the record, I have gambled before, and I’ve come out ahead and I’ve also lost a significant portion of money. Then again, I never said I was never a fool. After reading about how packed the convenience stores were getting with people purchasing tickets, one would could reasonably ask the valid question: Doesn’t more participation mean even higher chances of losing out?
I mean really? Really?
Assuming that at least a portion of the people who decided to make a pilgrimage to the border over the past few weeks have two brain cells to rub together, I’m wondering what their motivating factors were, outside of “maybe I have a chance of winning.” I mean, it’s a two hour drive from Tuscaloosa to Georgia; certainly a person has time to think about how stupid the whole trip is at some point, and then maybe the motivating factor is that they don’t want to waste the gas for nothing.

Benefiting from the revenue

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Day 1, Entry #3 with Rennie Jackson discussing the Mega Million jackpot and the pros and cons of the lottery.
Like Cory, playing the lottery has never been something that has ever been much of a priority for me, but when that jackpot gets that large, you just can’t keep from hearing about it from every media outlet and wannabe riverboat gambler in earshot. I overheard someone last week justify their purchase of a ticket for it, by saying…
“Well, one way you can be sure you won’t win is to not buy a ticket”.
While that philosophy is completely accurate, I’m the kind who has never placed a lot of emphasis on “cashing in on the big payout.” Is it the odds? Well, of course. But that doesn’t keep me from attempting to overcome the house odds on a blackjack table occasionally. Even given that the odds for blackjack (for the player) are the best of any game in the casino.
It’s just not my cup of tea. I just figure it’s just not worth the effort given the odds to drive to one of the bordering states and lay those dollars down for a less than razor thin chance to hit the big jackpot. In an unrelated story, as a kid, my mom used to take my brothers and I shopping for clothes at a store called “The Jackpot.”  It was, as you might imagine, not “The Jackpot” and very much like the majority of lottery tickets purchased by millions of lottery players.
On the other hand, the states that participate benefit greatly from the lottery, and for the citizens of these states it is the jackpot, regardless of if they have a citizen that claims a “Golden Ticket.” Even the little convenience store outlets that sold the winning tickets benefit to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“IF” and I mean “IF” those proceeds are allocated as they are presented by the participating states, it is revenue to benefit the citizens of that state, specifically, in the form of scholarships for deserving students, as in Georgia. Worthy students who might otherwise have little to no opportunity to further their education beyond their economic reality will, in- turn, benefit the economic well-being and infrastructure of a state that is forward thinking enough to support their economic future.