With news that the tickets for Powerball are going up to $2, I thought
I would look up what kind of ridiculous stealing is going on in the
name of the state and multi-state lotteries.

And the verdict is in.

It is the worst bet you can make - in most cases 50% of the money goes
straight to the house making it much much worse than poker, horse
racing, slot machines and roulette in terms of the payout.

It is a tax on stupidity! Or maybe we should view it as simply making
a donation to the state.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/Advice/The10BestStateLotteryBets.aspx

Thank goodness I only bet a dollar every once in a while, but when I do I usually win between 3 and twenty dollars just enough to stay out of the taxes.