Why “lottery” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
> The lottery treats a job at Google and a job at WiPro as being the same in terms of odds. This actually changed this year. Applicant gets 1-4 tickets depending on their pay re…
by buzer · Oct 8, 2026
And this announcement changes nothing. Why only mention microsoft when they aren't even the worst of them? Tesla put out a tesla semi factory video a few days ago and most of th…
by roosterIllusi0n · Oct 8, 2026
I feel the whole h1b program is ill-conceived. The “can’t find local worker” requirement is a farce and a lottery is a stupid way to get the best people into the country. I pers…
by seizethecheese · Oct 8, 2026
> If you are skilled you will be around the skilled people who won the lottery. But it's a lottery that's truly random then there's no reason to believe that those that won the…
by jselysianeagle · Oct 8, 2026
Auctions are great because it's harder to game than a lottery. If a company truly believes there is a shortage of rocket surgeons and they need to access to the global market of…
by supertrope · Oct 8, 2026
Remember that H1B is a lottery. If you are skilled you will be around the skilled people who won the lottery. But most of the jobs aren’t going to those people. The lottery trea…
by rayiner · Oct 8, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "lottery" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "lottery" over time.
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse them to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. The most common regulations are prohibition of sale to minors and licensing of ticket vendors. Although lotteries were common in the United States and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries. This remained so until well after World War II. In the 1960s, casinos and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes. Read more on Wikipedia