[Chasaway]

The lottery:

A tax on people who are bad at math.

[GSlob]

Well, one could win in lottery without winning - it is a matter of attitude. Once in the late 80s there was a 100+mil jackpot in Pennsylvania. One couldn't buy a newspaper at a newsstand for the ticket lines. So, four of us (three postdocs and me, a grad student) bought one ticket. And for a whole week until the drawing we were addressing one another "my fellow millionaires". One of us did not have a quarter and wanted to chip in 30 cents - the rest immediately ganged up on him for "disgusting behavior" and "unspeakable greed". So on balance I'd say that each of us got more fun out of it than 25 cents' worth.