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Sunny Days And Sports Wins Make People More Cocky About Lottery Bets

New York lottery ticket sales per capita in 2012, by zip code.

ID: 7816970

You may want to watch your wallet on days when your team is winning unexpectedly or the sun breaks surprisingly through the clouds. That’s all it took to increase lottery ticket sales in New York City, statisticians report in a new study.

The $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot announced last week adds to the interest in the $70 billion spent yearly on lottery tickets in 43 states across the U.S. American enthusiasm for lotteries, despite the astronomically bad chances of winning, has long baffled the mathematically minded.