Legalised Lotteries
slit,—I doubt if the average investor in football-pools is as ignorant of their true character as Mr Hubert Phillips suggests. Speaking for myself, I have invested sums averaging 2s. 6d. a week in the pools for the last three years and shallcontinue to do so in the future. I have never won a periny, and probably never shall. But so long as the pools-promoter continues to fulfil his side of the bargain, i.e., pays me £75,000 if I get the maximum number of points on the treble chance, I shall remain a satisfied 4ustomer. I do not suppose for a moment that he is in the business for his health, nor do I doubt that the odds against me are astronomical. But my attitude and, I think, that of the average small investor, is this—someone has got to win, and my chance (as Mr. Phillips' analysis confirms) is as good as the next man's. My prospects of making £75,000 by honest employment or through any other form of gambling are even less than on the pools. Any sensible man can tell in five minutes that there is no skill involved. I am glad there is not, for it means that the expert's chances are no greater than my own. If I follow the tipsters' forecasts, it is only because their guess is probably As good as mine (again confirmed by Mr. Phillips), and because it saves me the trouble of arriving at my own. Finally, filling in my coupon is "a cheery little gamble," and if it distorts my social values, I am sure the cinema does so a great deal more. I do not believe, therefore, that Mr. Phillips' arguments will influence my fellow small investors in the least. All we ask is a chance, however small, of £75,000, and we get it.—Yours faithfully,
A. J. F. SIIVIMANCE.
Hill House, Wrights Green, Little .Hallingbury, Essex.
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