[jamie_ca]

Maybe, "the time when expected value is the lowest"?

The BC 6/49 lottery (6 balls 1-49, one bonus ball) for example has 53% of the common "prize pool" split amongst all 4-ball matchers, so if you're not hitting the jackpot you get less cash out of a high-demand drawing.

And given the prize pool is something like 18% of net receipts... yeah EV is still well in the negatives.