A man in the street offers you the following choice:

I most likely would point to my headphones and pretend I didn't hear him talking to me because I don't want random strangers approaching me on the street for any reason!

A lottery ticket because it can provide momentarily some fun and excitement while the equivalent of a dollar can not.

Edit: *five dollars. I'd still pick the lottery ticket because why not.

I'll take the £5. That way if I wanted I could get two lottery tickets and a scrarchcard.

Though in truth I'd forget about it because I only ever use card then a year later think why the hell do I have a fiver in my wallet.

I would take the lottery ticket because five dollars is equally meaningless to me.

I'd take the lotto ticket. I know my chances are a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but I like the idea of it being a gamble. I wish we could have a lottery in Utah - apparently it's against "god's law" to have gambling, for some reason - they say because it causes addiction. Well you should see how addicted to food and sugary drinks people in Utah are. Give me a game to play so I won't have to see that all around me.

Don’t lottery tickets cost like $1?

A mega sena (popular lottery ticket in Brazil) costs five reals if you fill it with six numbers. So I'd certainly pick the 5 reals bill, as the expected value per real is always smaller.

The picture changes if the ticket was filled with more numbers; if you hit any six then you get the jackpot, and it's accordingly more expensive (seven numbers for R$35,00; eight for R$140,00). For those I'd need to do the maths, but there are complicating factors:

• if multiple people hit the jackpot, the prize gets split
• there's a secondary prize if you hit five numbers, and a tertiary one if you hit four
• the jackpot varies quite a bit from one draw to another, as it accumulates if nobody hit it in the previous draw

To simplify it: let's say that only the primary prize counts, it's around 30 million reals (typical value), and that your odds are one in 50 million. Then the expected value becomes:

• with 6 numbers: R$30M/50M = R$0,60
• with 7 numbers: 7*(R$0,60) = R$4,20
• with 8 numbers: 8*(R$4,20) = R$33,60

The five reals bill is still more valuable than a mega sena ticket with seven numbers, even if it costs R$35. But if it was eight, I'd pick the ticket.

Internet says a New York Powerball ticket costs $2 to $3 so I'll be taking the $5 thanks a lot street man

That sounds hella sus... I'm not sure I'd take either, fearing some scam? At worst I lose out on $5 or whatever, while at best I avoid whatever would have happened had I accepted.

Yeah, life makes you jaded doesn't it? :-P

5 dollars, you can buy some great old video game on sale and have fun for hours.

I'd take the five bucks, because I can always use a little cash in my wallet for tips but the lottery ticket is likely to be worthless.

I'll take the $5 every time.

I played this game for Christmas with my parents! For fun, they offered me $10 or a scratch-off. For the heck of it, I took the scratch-off and won $40. With the way my luck went last month, I'd have to pick the lottery ticket.

Give money please

$5. All day.

I'd take my 4.59€ pretty please

I guess it shouldn't be surprising to me that almost everyone here is picking the lotto ticket with how popular gambling is. I'm just disappointed in y'all.