How the Powerball rules were tweaked to make the game an even bigger ripoff

Re:How the Powerball rules were tweaked to make the game an ... by BinaryIdiot on Wednesday January 13, 2016 @10:58AM (#10895216)

I think the difference is the fantasy sports betting are small companies whereas lotteries are typically run by the government. There is also the difference in that winning fantasy sports betting is far, far more likely than winning a lottery jackpot.

Seems pretty different to me enough to illicit different reactions.

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Re:How the Powerball rules were tweaked to make the game an ... by TeMPOraL on Wednesday January 13, 2016 @04:31PM (#10897671)

Is it? I.e. winning small on lottery is not that improbable. It still has negative expected value, and so do fantasy sports. The difference is that winning big in lottery is uniformly unlikely, while winning big in fantasy sports is mostly tied to your Microsoft Excel skills. Which:

a) makes me believe that your assumption that "winning fantasy sports betting is far, far more likely than winning a lottery jackpot" is incorrect, and in fact for an average Joe, the reverse is the case;

b) suggests that the biggest advocates of fantasy sports will be people who believe they're good enough with Excel and statistics.

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Re:How the Powerball rules were tweaked to make the game an ... by BinaryIdiot on Thursday January 14, 2016 @04:01PM (#10904448)

> Is it? I.e. winning small on lottery is not that improbable.

Yeah I know meant winning the big jackpots not the few dollars here and there many people win.

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