Wow. Great post. 1. It's great to have this kind of guidance about making a small investment in Splinterlands cards for rent. I don't know whether I want to do it, but, clearly, now is a good time. 2. About lottery tickets: I remember, after taking an advanced-ish statistics class in uni, I fully realized the improbability of ever winning the lottery. I discussed it with my father because he occasionally buys lottery tickets, but he is also both frugal and a pure Mathematician. His behaviour puzzled me. Why would you ever buy a lottery ticket, I asked him. I understand other people doing it, but not him.
He explained and I think he called the concept a utility function, but I am senile and I may be conflating concepts. However, here is the theory: on the one hand, the probability of a big lottery win is staggeringly low. It is so low that one should anticipate losing. On the other hand, if you keep the amount that you spend on tickets to a minimum then the cost of this constant loss is negligable and relatively painless. By contrast, in the unlikely event that you win, it would make a profound difference to your life, and this cannot happen without the small loss.
This explains why it makes sense to spend a very small amount on a lottery ticket every now and then, especially if there is a high jackpot. People do win, as unlikely as it is. My fiancé has an aunt who literally won a million dollars (Canadian, but still) about two decades ago.
Of course, you might already realize all of this. It just drives me a bit nuts both when people mistakenly think that if they spend more on the lottery, they will win more (the amount the probability of winning rises by is usually not significant), and also that it is not worth it to play. The latter is mathematically accurate in a technical sense, but negates the fact that, for example, here, a lottery ticket of less than $10 can yield winnings of millions. It most likely won't, but in the very unlikely event that it did, you would have millions all of a sudden. And, if they don't, you only lose in most cases about $5 here.
The scratch tickets are more of a rip off though, in my opinion. I wonder if you gifted her with a small crypto account during this bear market, if she might get into crypto when it turns to a bull market. Of course, that could end up being the least appreciated gift of all time.
It's funny because my fiancé knows very little about crypto. Funny because it seems like it is usually the guy who is into it. I tried to show him -- "What if I die... you have to know how to get my crypto!!!" That whole eyes glazing over thing... I left instructions, but, clearly, I have to remain alive because, otherwise, my crypto will be gone!
I refuse to apologize for the length of this comment.
!PIZZA