Smugness: A cheap and false sense of superiority.

Nanjing to Seoul says:

"Lottery: A tax on simple people bad at simple math"

Wow, that is so smart. You must be the smartest primate on your block! What else are you going to tell us, that wanking off to images of Celebrity Sex Symbol No. 29 is not the same as going out with her?

People gamble for the emotional charge. They play the big jackpot games as a means of allowing themselves some hours of fantasy about what they'll do when they're rich. (For the vast majority of those playing, the chances of this with a ticket are greater than zero, as opposed to definite zero. That's all that matters for empowering the fantasy.)

All this bespeaks common emotional needs in an alienated environment. States and other gambling sponsors take advantage of these emotional drives in the most disgusting fashion.

So that people play has little to do with exceptional stupidity or ignorance of math. Most people understand the odds. Many inveterate gamblers are immersed in odds and mathematically talented, and getting a couple of lottery tickets is just an added kick to the overall mix.

What you are showing with your nerdy obviousness is your own failure to understand the emotions and psychology underlying gambling.

There is a group of people immune to the desire to gamble (which for most is rooted in hormonal and neurological realities). Some of them make a point of announcing how well they understand the math, and in my observation such people tend to be middle class and liquid. When they make a smug but ignorant comment like yours, they are fulfilling an emotional need, just a different one: to feel superior to the blotto masses.

Nice analogy, Alexander.