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so who is going to buy lotto tickets?

RJ YellowHammer

RJ YellowHammer

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crimsonaudio said:
Why? Your chances are the same no matter what the jackpot is.

Good luck, but I'll not throw my money away on such bad odds.
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Not sure if this has been addressed or not, but there's a case for buying the Mega Millions tickets now. The odds of hitting the number are about 160,000,000:1. The lump sum payout is 350,000,000:1. Just squint your eyes, forget about the possibility of someone else hitting it too, and make a little wager.

Usually I consider the lottery to be a tax on people who are bad at math, but I'm gonna hold my nose and buy $50 worth.

Solid bet imo. ;)
 
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gmart74

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bamanut_aj said:
Type A, whatever that is. It was a strain covered in the flu shot this year, and they all 3 got the shot. I didn't get the shot, never do. And so far I'm in decent shape. I know I have to be carrying it....just hoping it won't take.
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dont get me started on flu shots.......
 
mikes12

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crimsonaudio said:
I had a friend who used to play it, I asked him once why he didn't play 1-1-1-1-1-1 (or similar). He told me that would never happen...
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I think the numbers are non-repeating. 1-2-3-4-5 has a chance to win, but 1-1-1-1-1 does not. And 1-2-3-4-5 has the same odds as does 4-8-15-16-23.
 
Bama Reb

Bama Reb

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ValuJet said:
Bamaro - with that much loot, would you forget about climate change, or would you donate most of it to the U.N. to help correct the misdeeds of Western Civilization?
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Bamaro: What climate change??? :biggrin:
:wink:

I'm glad I live in the middle of Alabama and am not tempted on a daily basis to buy lottery tickets, etc.
As bad as I am a gambling, I'd be so poor I'd have to hit the lottery just to get above broke.
OTOH, if I ever did win a prize that big, I'd be happier than a hungry baby in a topless bar. :biggrin:
 
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crimsonaudio

crimsonaudio

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mikes12 said:
I think the numbers are non-repeating. 1-2-3-4-5 has a chance to win, but 1-1-1-1-1 does not. And 1-2-3-4-5 has the same odds as does 4-8-15-16-23.
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Had to look it up - you were closer than I was:
"Since June 2005, a player picks, or allows the lottery terminal to pick, five different numbers from 1 through 56 (white balls) and one number from 1 through 46 (the Mega Ball number, a gold-colored ball). The Mega Ball number is drawn from a separate machine, so it can be a duplicate of one of the white ball numbers. "

Nice LOST ref, btw...
 
crimsonaudio

crimsonaudio

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Here's my question - when the payout exceeds (by a decent margin) the odds of winning (1:175,711,536), why doesn't a wealthy person buy one of each possible combination? With an estimated current payout, after taxes, of $389m, there could be two winning tickets and you'd still profit some $20m...
 
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SimplyTide

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When considering whether or not to make a particular bet, two things should be taken into consideration - the likelihood of a win, and the amount that you have to risk as a percentage of the reward. $1 or $2 risk for a chance to win $500MM+ outweighs that 1:176M odd against. However, if you decide to play $4 or more, you turn it back upside down.
 
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gmart74

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crimsonaudio said:
Here's my question - when the payout exceeds (by a decent margin) the odds of winning (1:175,711,536), why doesn't a wealthy person buy one of each possible combination? With an estimated current payout, after taxes, of $389m, there could be two winning tickets and you'd still profit some $20m...
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i asked the same question and got a pretty good answer- the drawing is twice a week. so you only have ~3 days to get all of your numbers printed out. they are all done by hand so you would have to have a bunch of people buying tix every second of every day in multiple locations to cover all the numbers.
 
Bamaro

Bamaro

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gmart74 said:
i asked the same question and got a pretty good answer- the drawing is twice a week. so you only have ~3 days to get all of your numbers printed out. they are all done by hand so you would have to have a bunch of people buying tix every second of every day in multiple locations to cover all the numbers.
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Also, others could pick the correct numbers and significantly reduce your winnings, putting you in the hole.
 
Crimson1967

Crimson1967

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I once read about a big lottery hit where the first three numbers were 1-2-3, followed by three random numbers. The woman who won said she got the numbers from the machine and almost threw the ticket away when she saw the numbers because she thought those would never hit. I wish I had been in line next to her that day.

I agree the lottery is just a tax o0n stupid people, but I don't have a problem with anybody spending a few bucks on tickets if they can afford it. but some people let it get out of hand. I once had to drive to Panama city for work and had to have a co-worker ride with me. As soon as we crossed the state line, he wanted to stop and get scratch off tickets. He bought about $20 worth and then had me stop again before we got to the hotel. Every day he would have me stop on the way to work and buy tickets. He also bought a bunch of powerball tickets in addition to scratchoffs he got.

He later told me he would drive from his house in Helena to Georgia just to buy lottery tickets.
 
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