Story and images by Sarah Manns

The money we spend on the lottery

Cha Ching is the sound that comes to a person’s mind when it comes to lottery and why not?  There’s even the new Lotto max where you can win up to $50 million! But now it is time to ask yourselves, just what are the chances of winning?

Ever since Lotto Max came out replacing the Super Seven, people automatically saw the advertisement saying you had better chances and could win not only more prizes but bigger ones. Not only did they leave out the fact that each ticket would be five dollars instead of three, but that your chances of winning, according to Statistics Canada, are one in 28 million for a chance of winning about $15 million!

A CBC news story about gambling even said that you had a better chance of being killed by a terrorist attack (1 in 650 thousand), or even being struck by lightening (1 in 56 thousand). So when you stop and think about it, is it really worth buying a ticket?

Statistics show that people who make $20 thousand or less spend an average of $211 on the lottery. People who make more than $80,000 spend an average of $497. I mean for most of us that could be a monthly car payment!

A picture of someone scratching a Cash for Life ticket

I know it can be challenging, especially when you walk into stores and see all those shiny tickets that are just screaming out “play me, play me”! Take a look at the new Cash for Life ticket. Not only does it say you can win $1000 a week for life, but that it’s the 10th anniversary for the game and there are the most prizes ever!

I’m not saying that buying a ticket every once in a while is bad, even I go out and buy a couple of scratch tickets for some fun. I know from first hand experience working in a store that sells tickets, that some people spend hundreds of dollars on tickets and generally win only three-five dollars.

We all have dreams of never going to work, being able to sleep in and drive down the road in that brand new Lamborghini with the motor just a roaring.  Oh wait I’m telling you my dreams! But honestly, the next time you go to buy a ticket, stop and think of what your chances really are.

Sure the Cash for Life may look good, but if you are buying them constantly, well you may just become a sucker for life.

Watch this video courtesy of YouTube on how gambling affects people’s lives.