Texas Lottery Chronicles-"Trim the Tree"

I received a $5 scratch-off lottery ticket titled "Trim the Tree" as a stocking stuffer this Christmas and it got me to wondering how bad an investment a lottery ticket really is. On the back of the ticket it states that my odds are 1:3.83, and that includes break-even prizes.

Doesn't sound too promising.

As part of my experiment, I have decided to keep a running total of wins and losses, plus my total dollar investment and net results. Similar to what I do with my sports betting.

"Trim the Tree" has several ways to win. There are 20 prizes on the ticket and if you have a star next to a prize, you win that prize. If your scratching reveals a bell, you multiply your cash prize by 10.

Hell yeah!

The "jackpot" as it were, is the wreath symbol. Get that one and you collect all the prizes on the ticket.

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Let's get started, shall we?

As you can see below, the top half of the ticket has been disappointing. However, if the elusive wreath symbol shows, I already have $102,750 tallied up. Hope springs eternal!

Well, looks like we whiffed on our Christmas ticket. Nothing like being 0 for $404,435. That's quite a slump!

Hopefully the next one will be more profitable. It certainly won't be less so :)

Tickets                        1
Winners                      0
Investment             $5.00
Winnings                  $0
Net                        ($5.00)