Chance

Ever wonder what are your chances of winning the PowerBall Lottery? Take a look. You will see that your chance is 1 : 195,249,056. Not very good odds. But, heck, if you don't play, you can't win or so they say.

Our society seems to have concluded that financial success is dependent on gambling. With the number of casinos springing up around the country, you would think that games of chance are our only possible way to get ahead. With today's job market, maybe it is true.

There are 1507 establishments identified as casinos in this country. Many other establishments, oftentimes euphemistically called some form of 'Veterans' Internet Cafes are springing up all around. Locally, just this week the 23rd Cafe offering forms of Jack Pot winnings for playing games of chance, some games of skill and chance has gone before the City Commission requesting a license to open. Of course these cafes deny that they are gambling establishments. Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, an employee of a local cafe called 911 to report a robbery at the "casino". Oops!

"Players" with household incomes under $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000. Sadly, I've seen this very thing manifested at the super market where a customer in front of me made her purchase with food stamps and then purchased her PowerBall tickets with dollars. If you go to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, the Indian Reservation casinos and other gambling portals, this sad fact plays out day after day in our society.

I well understand that some people are desperate and will gamble on striking it rich even when the perpetrators of these so-called games of chance stack the odds against winning. If you think you can win against the casino, just go to Las Vegas, Atlantic City or one of the other casino towns, stand in front of one of the casinos and explain to yourself where these guys got the money to build the casinos if you can be a winner playing their games.

Sorry, I must go. PowerBall tickets are going fast. The payout is up to $171 million for the drawing Saturday night. I can't miss putting my two cents worth (well maybe $5) into the pool. As is often said by the talking heads selecting the winning lottery numbers, "You can't win if you don't play".