Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Number 53 brings relief to Italy

This is topic Number 53 brings relief to Italy in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 02-11-2005, 05:07 AM:

And Mr Hill always told me it was 16 higher than that [Big Grin]

Click here
Actually it's all down to money , as usual. Coutesy of BBC News online

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 02-11-2005, 10:51 AM:

And to think that I believed the lottery was only an American phenomenon inwhich grandma can blow her whole social security check on scratch tickets while spending the rest of the month eating canned dog food. [Big Grin]

Seriously, if these people are that hard up for money, do some low-risk investments or something with the cash they're blowing. Sure, the return sucks in comparison to a lottery payout, but AT LEAST THERE IS A PAYOUT.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-11-2005, 11:01 AM:

Lottery: A tax on the math-impaired.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-11-2005, 01:10 PM:

News links die quickly (sometimes as quickly as one day's time) and as such the text needs to be pasted onto the thread.

quote:

Number 53 brings relief to Italy
euro notes
Superstitions surround Italy's lottery fever
The elusive number 53, blamed for several deaths and bankruptcies, has finally popped up in the Venice lottery after a two-year wait.

Italians had bet more than 3.5bn euros (£2.4bn), hoping that 53 would turn up, in what became a national obsession.

Last month a woman drowned herself in the sea off Tuscany after she bet the family savings on 53, Reuters reports.

And police said a man living near Florence shot his wife and son and then himself because of his number 53 debts.

The Italian national lotto invites bets of any amount on numbers from 1 to 90 in bi-weekly draws.

The draws take place in 10 cities across the country. For each draw, 50 numbers are picked, five in each of 10 cities.

A consumer group, Codacons, recently urged the government to ban the number 53 from the draw, to halt the country's "collective psychosis".

After 53 finally appeared on Wednesday night, it said it was delighted that Italy's "bewitchment" had been broken.

Italy's Ansa news agency said the wins from Wednesday's draw would cost the Italian state up to 600 million euros (£413m; $768m).

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-12-2005, 02:25 AM:

So, how do you spell "RELIEF"?

BTW Dick: "Mr. Hill"? You talked to my dad? I'm shocked that he would say such a thing! HA! [Razz]

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 02-13-2005, 05:11 AM:

Apologies Brad. I do usually post the text. Put it down to sleep deprivation