Search Results: play with yourself

Some facts about lotto in the USA:

The taxation difference between a lump sum and annuity lottery payout primarily lies in the timing and amount of taxes paid. A lump sum payout is taxed immediately on the entire amount, often pushing the winner into the highest federal tax bracket of 37%. This results in a significant portion of the winnings being taxed upfront. In contrast, annuity payments are taxed annually as they are received, potentially at lower rates if future tax brackets are reduced or if the annual payout doesn't push the winner into the highest bracket.

Estimates suggest around 30% of lottery winners face bankruptcy within three to five years.

Lottery players in America tend to come from specific demographic groups:

Socioeconomic Status:
People in lower-income brackets spend a larger portion of their income on lottery tickets. The poorest households spend nearly 5% of their income on lotteries, while wealthier households spend much less.

Race and Ethnicity:
Blacks and Native Americans have higher average days of lottery play compared to other groups.

Gender:
Males play the lottery more frequently than females.

Age:
Lottery play peaks in the twenties and thirties, then declines with age.

The odds: gambling is often referred to as "a tax for people that are bad at math". Here's your proof:

Here are some events more likely than winning the lottery:

Struck by Lightning: 1 in 186,978 chance annually.

Attacked by a Shark: 1 in 11.5 million.

Dying in a Car Accident: 1 in 67,003.

Winning an Olympic Gold Medal: 1 in 662,0005.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.

Approximately 1% to 2.6% of the U. S. population has a gambling addiction, which translates to about 2 to 10 million people.

Bet with your head, not over it!

Note: I'm really curious about what the youngsters here will say in this scenario, as we, elders, already knew the pre internet era, its easier for us to imagine.

Now here is what will happen, briefly, dont read if you want to imagine the consequences yourself, spoilers:

Your desktop is now an offline station
Your smartphone becomes dumbphone again!

no more wikipedia, there's a library
no more social medias, silence!
no more wetflix, buy DVDs
no more gps, paper maps
no more online shopping, move your butt
no more uber, go to the restaurant
no more online dating, sorry introverts
no more MMOs, play solo
no more Hub, erotic magazines ew
no more...

Why this situation you ask? Maybe because resources would not anymore be as abundant as they were, maybe because heating up all those servers and scripts and AIs 24/7... you know, that's a hell of a lot of energy for such trivial uses! For the sake of pseudo-realism, let's say that a part of the world still operates with internet, maybe banks and govs? But not you, not the general public ! You are back to pre-internet, the 1980's, but better haircuts, and goth crocs !

Some people chat a storm with random people on flights or in the lobby. Others stick to themselves and just play on their phone or read a book. Which are you?