Thai lottery not worth playing, says Phuket poll

[snoop1130]

Thai lottery not worth playing, says Phuket poll

The Phuket News

 

Plenty of pretty colours and lucky numbers, but not lucky enough to lure more people to play the Thai government lottery. Photo: The Phuket News / file
 

PHUKET:-- More than 60 per cent of respondents to a recent online poll have voiced their opinion that the Thai government lottery simply is not worth playing.
 

Running over two weeks in the run-up to the mid-month lottery drawn on Sept 16, the poll sought public opinion on the government lottery, especially in the common knowledge of the plague of illegal lotteries held each month in Moo Baan and villages throughout the country.

 

The poll also came amid news that the Government Lottery Office (GLO) is considering printing more books of tickets, a move that would increase the chances available for people to win bigger prizes – if they buy more tickets – but would not increase the actual chances of winning any prizes.

 

To this, The Phuket News simply asked readers, “Is the Thai lottery worth playing?”

 

A neat 40% of respondents voted, “No, the chances of winning any of the prizes are too small.”

 

A further 22% of respondents voted, “No, the prizes are not big enough and without a ‘jackpot’ it’s not worth entering.”

 

Full Story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/thai-lottery-not-worth-playing-says-phuket-poll-59165.php#LIj10FmHAjfxBluG.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2016-09-19

[Brer Fox]

But the government with it's lottery taxes to help buy submarines and tanks is always the winner. Stuff the punters.

[TommyUK1960]

Never like the fact that they never disclose what happens when their is no winner. The money isn't rolled over, it just disappears.

[Pib]

But many of my Thai in-laws and friends say their lottery winnings outpace their lottery expenditures.  I just say, Sure. 

 

But everyone once in a while one does make it known how he/she won some not-so-large amount.  When asking how much they have spent over the years in buying the tickets in comparison to their winnings their answer is a tap-and-dance, beat-around-the-bush-answer along with a facial expression that says they are lying through their teeth.  You would swear you were talking to a politician.

 

 

[ChrisY1]

When there are so many tickets each draw that are "allocated" to the military, police etc....something well over 400,000......and the balance to the public.....it's easy to see where the big prizes mostly end up....

And then of course, there's the corruption thingy....which at best is dubious, despite shows of integrity.

[clockman]

But in every village, the underground lottery is very popular!

[Pib]

And here we are talking the "legal govt" lottery.  Let's not forget the "illegal/under the table lotteries" that many say more is spent on each month in Thailand than the legal lottery.....and I believe it.    I sure know I have in-laws who regularly make bets on local illegal lotteries.  

 

Just two weeks ago a very close in-law (an out of work for months in-law) won Bt6,000 in a local, illegal lottery that he always picks numbers with.   Now with bills to pay and new bills coming up, what did he do with his winnings....he went out and bought a Bt5,600 video/stereo player for his old car which he still has 5 years of payments to go on.  And probably immediately reinvested the remaining Bt400 in other lottery bets/tickets.   

[Pib]

11 hours ago, TommyUK1960 said:

Never like the fact that they never disclose what happens when their is no winner. The money isn't rolled over, it just disappears.

If not claimed it become state revenue.   See Government Lottery Office webpage below for full details (in English and Thai).  Partial quote from the GLO Act B.E.2517 below

 

http://www.glo.or.th/ewt_news.php?nid=32&filename=index___EN

 

Quote

 

Finance, accounting and auditing

SECTION 22. The proceeds received by the Government Lottery Office from the sale of government lottery tickets shall be allocated as follows:

(1) sixty percent as prizes;
(2) not less than twenty-eight percent as State revenue;
(3) not exceeding twelve percent as expenditure on administration inclusive of the expense in respect of the sale of government lottery tickets.

SECTION 23. The proceeds received the Government Lottery Office other than those received under Section 22 shall be appropriated as expenditure on administration.

SECTION 24. Fruits arising from money under Section 22 (1) and (2) shall be remitted as State revenue while fruits arising from the money under Section 22 (3) shall be allocated for expenditure on administration.

SECTION 25. The expenses in respect of the sale of government lottery tickets which are parts of the expenditure on administration under Section 22 (3) shall be prescribed the Committee with the approval of the Minister.

SECTION 26. In respect of money allocated for payment of the prizes under Section 22 (1), if the person entitled to claim the prizes does not apply for them within the period prescribed under Section 37, it shall be remitted as State revenue.

SECTION 27. The remainder of expenditure on administration under Section 22 (3), Section 23 and Section 24, if any, shall be set aside each year by the Government Lottery Office as reserve not exceeding fifty percent, and the balance of there shall be remitted as State revenue.
Whenever the Minister considers that the money set aside as reserve under paragraph one is an excessive amount or beyond what is necessary, the Minister himself or with the advice of the Committee has the power to give an order reducing such reserve to an amount as he may deem appropriate. In such a case, the Government Lottery Office shall remit the money in excess of the amount prescribed by the Minister as State revenue.

 

 

[madmitch]

Most Thais seem to be more interested in the last two digits, which on the official Government lottery pays 2000 baht on an 80 baht pair of tickets: that's an 11.5-1 payout on a 99-1 chance. Or the three digits which pays 4000 baht on a 999-1 shot. Not great odds. The underground lotteries don't usually bother with the six digits, just the two and three and offer much greater odds, though still stacked heavily towards the organisers, and that's why they are much more popular.

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

16 hours ago, TommyUK1960 said:

Never like the fact that they never disclose what happens when their is no winner. The money isn't rolled over, it just disappears.

why would any one play this lottery when there is no transparency? just the poor desperates i suspect.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

When there are so many tickets each draw that are "allocated" to the military, police etc....something well over 400,000......and the balance to the public.....it's easy to see where the big prizes mostly end up....

And then of course, there's the corruption thingy....which at best is dubious, despite shows of integrity.

As my old grandmother used to say "You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time. " In my country the prize is many times more and tax free. In my 6 years here I have learned that nothing is free not even dying. 

[eisfeld]

A lottery that isn't worth playing? Say it ain't so!

[mankondang]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

As my old grandmother used to say "You can fool some of people some of the time but you  cannot fool all the people all the time. " In my country the prize is many times more and tax free. In my 6 years here I have learned that nothing is free not even dying. 

 

If your grandmother used to say that, then congratulations, as you may be a direct decendant to Sir Winston Churchill.

[elgordo38]

Just now, mankondang said:

 

If your grandmother used to say that, then congratulations, as you may be a direct decendant to Sir Winston Churchill.

 

Just now, mankondang said:

 

If your grandmother used to say that, then congratulations, as you may be a direct decendant to Sir Winston Churchill.

Please call me Sir but not late for dinner. 

[DrDave]

[elgordo38]

21 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

 

Please call me Sir but not late for dinner. 

I try to keep it humorous. There is way to much verbal blood letting on TV. Some posters when they get a bone in their mouth they will not let go. Some days after people rip me apart here I feel in the need of a transfusion. It takes fewer muscles to laugh than to frown. 

[mankondang]

15 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

I try to keep it humorous. There is way to much verbal blood letting on TV. Some posters when they get a bone in their mouth they will not let go. Some days after people rip me apart here I feel in the need of a transfusion. It takes fewer muscles to laugh than to frown. 

 

Good on you for brightening peoples day.

[GreasyFingers]

10 hours ago, clockman said:

But in every village, the underground lottery is very popular!

 

Yes that is the way it is here. I tell everyone that I will take their money and pay them the same odds. 3 numbers odds 1/1000 but payout is 500/1, 2 numbers odds 1/100 with payout 50/1. I wish I could run that deal. Even the online bookmakers only have a 20% margin at best.

[Xircal]

15 hours ago, madmitch said:

Most Thais seem to be more interested in the last two digits, which on the official Government lottery pays 2000 baht on an 80 baht pair of tickets: that's an 11.5-1 payout on a 99-1 chance. Or the three digits which pays 4000 baht on a 999-1 shot. Not great odds. The underground lotteries don't usually bother with the six digits, just the two and three and offer much greater odds, though still stacked heavily towards the organisers, and that's why they are much more popular.

 

 

 

80 Baht for Thais: 300 Baht if you're a farang.

[mike324]

One of the most corrupt organizations to say the least, if anybody bothers to dig further and read wikileaks, you will find out where parts of the money goes.

 

In most western countries, you can win hundreds of millions with just a $1 / 1 euro ticket. In Thailand, you need to buy the whole set of number and spend over $10 just to win something like $200,000

 

The entire system is a scam, better off that it is underground lottery just because you can't trust the government to handle the money.

[Chuckster]

The Thai lottery system is based on pre-printed numbers tickets and a 1 in 999,999 odds of winning the first prize compared to the Powerball in the US, where the odds are 1 in 292,000,000 for the jackpot. I don't think you can compare any two lottery systems in terms of payout without considering the odds.

 

 Sure the jackpot is worth a lot more in Powerball, but part of that is the accumulation for each drawing that goes without a winner, not to mention the higher number of players putting more money into the pot.

 

To put it into perspective, the top prize for Thai lottery is equivalent to about $80,000-90,000 (could be double this amount, the pair ticket thing confuses me) for a 1 in 999,000 odds with a $2.75 buy-in VS. the $50,000 prize from Powerball (4 numbers+powerball) which has almost the same odds at 1 in 912,000 with a $1 buy-in.

 

The pot just doesn't accumulate beyond that amount because everything is pre printed and there are already a set amount of winners. So, in theory, if the Thai lottery office decided to print out sixty sets of 000,001- 999,999 tickets numbers( 60million tickets) then there are already 60 guarenteed winners of 3,000,000 baht each (if they sold everything they printed and if all the tickets are sold). That's 180,000,000 Baht going to 60 people instead of 1 person.

Let's look at the low end of the Thai lottery, the two number prize. It's a 1 in 99 odds of winning and payout is 25-1 (2000 for 80 baht). It looks pretty lousy but the powerball is even worse. The 1 number+ powerball prize sits at 1 in 92 odds of winning and the pay out only is 4-1.

 

I don't think any lottery has "good" odds, most people play just to win the big prize. The smaller prizes are there just to keep the dream going. When people talk about "good" odds there's really no such thing because the pay out is always relative to the odds and the house always win. Just a food for thought. 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Chuckster
Addition

[jcisco]

On 9/20/2016 at 6:22 PM, GreasyFingers said:

 

Yes that is the way it is here. I tell everyone that I will take their money and pay them the same odds. 3 numbers odds 1/1000 but payout is 500/1, 2 numbers odds 1/100 with payout 50/1. I wish I could run that deal. Even the online bookmakers only have a 20% margin at best.

EDIT:nevermind you were talking about the lottery structure, the last statement threw me, I read it in a different context. 

Edited October 31, 2016 by jcisco
Its late

[ScotBkk]

The Thai lottery system is based on pre-printed numbers tickets and a 1 in 999,999 odds of winning the first prize compared to the Powerball in the US, where the odds are 1 in 292,000,000 for the jackpot. I don't think you can compare any two lottery systems in terms of payout without considering the odds.
 
 Sure the jackpot is worth a lot more in Powerball, but part of that is the accumulation for each drawing that goes without a winner, not to mention the higher number of players putting more money into the pot.
 
To put it into perspective, the top prize for Thai lottery is equivalent to about $80,000-90,000 (could be double this amount, the pair ticket thing confuses me) for a 1 in 999,000 odds with a $2.75 buy-in VS. the $50,000 prize from Powerball (4 numbers+powerball) which has almost the same odds at 1 in 912,000 with a $1 buy-in.
 
The pot just doesn't accumulate beyond that amount because everything is pre printed and there are already a set amount of winners. So, in theory, if the Thai lottery office decided to print out sixty sets of 000,001- 999,999 tickets numbers( 60million tickets) then there are already 60 guarenteed winners of 3,000,000 baht each (if they sold everything they printed and if all the tickets are sold). That's 180,000,000 Baht going to 60 people instead of 1 person.
Let's look at the low end of the Thai lottery, the two number prize. It's a 1 in 99 odds of winning and payout is 25-1 (2000 for 80 baht). It looks pretty lousy but the powerball is even worse. The 1 number+ powerball prize sits at 1 in 92 odds of winning and the pay out only is 4-1.
 
I don't think any lottery has "good" odds, most people play just to win the big prize. The smaller prizes are there just to keep the dream going. When people talk about "good" odds there's really no such thing because the pay out is always relative to the odds and the house always win. Just a food for thought. 

Thanks for that straight forward explanation. Food for thought indeed. I think if I ate while trying to work out your mathematical equations my chances of Diabetes would be Ginormous!!!!


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