Pfffft...As if it matters. I have the winning ticket, so all of you losers don't even need to bother buying one.

Seriously, stay home.

Still no cure for negative expected returns.

The odds of winning are 176,000,000 to one. Therefore, I just need to buy 176,000,000 tickets, and I'm guaranteed to triple my money!

/farkin' probability, how does it work?

Just what CA needs: more insanely rich people.

gameshowhost: Still no cure for negative expected returns.

Eh, just think of the negative expected return as the price you are paying for the joy of the daydream.

The Onion is prophetic: The odds of winning are 176,000,000 to one. Therefore, I just need to buy 176,000,000 tickets, and I'm guaranteed to triple my money!

/farkin' probability, how does it work?

Pot odds vs. hand odds, my friend. If the odds are 1/176,000,000 and you're getting a chance at $500,000,000 for your $1, it makes mathematical sense to play. It actually makes mathematical sense to purchase three tickets. Well, nearly, but close enough.

But Lisa that missing Crayon could be anywhere.

Who wants Lottery tickets?!?!

Ok. It's in his brain.

GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

Aren't they $2 each now? Or is Florida just screwing with everyone?

dahmers love zombie: GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

Aren't they $2 each now? Or is Florida just screwing with everyone?

Powerball is $2 each, Mega Millions is still just one.

The Onion is prophetic: The odds of winning are 176,000,000 to one. Therefore, I just need to buy 176,000,000 tickets, and I'm guaranteed to triple my money!

/farkin' probability, how does it work?

well it has become rational to buy one now .... sort of

I've already gone ahead in time and discovered the numbers.

To avoid any suspicion, I'm only going to buy 5 $250,000 winners.

/well, no, I can't actually buy MM where I is.

GAT_00: dahmers love zombie: GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

Aren't they $2 each now? Or is Florida just screwing with everyone?

I paid $1 each. If I heard the woman in front of me right, Powerball is $2. This is Mega Millions, assuming the headline has the name right.

The ticket is $1. You can pay another $1 for a "multiplier." I'm not sure how the multiplier affects the jackpot.

I'm thinking it will go to $6 million by Friday night, but who knows.

I was on the train this morning going to work and there was this guy sitting in front of me who had at least 20 copies that probably had ten $5 tickets on each from the last drawing. He was going thru all of the numbers without a pen or pencil for the full hour.

/Obviously an office pool but some of these people are hardcore

namatad: The Onion is prophetic: The odds of winning are 176,000,000 to one. Therefore, I just need to buy 176,000,000 tickets, and I'm guaranteed to triple my money!

/farkin' probability, how does it work?

well it has become rational to buy one now .... sort of

unless someone else also wins...

Earguy: GAT_00: dahmers love zombie: GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

Aren't they $2 each now? Or is Florida just screwing with everyone?

I paid $1 each. If I heard the woman in front of me right, Powerball is $2. This is Mega Millions, assuming the headline has the name right.

The ticket is $1. You can pay another $1 for a "multiplier." I'm not sure how the multiplier affects the jackpot.

Powerball tix are $2. The multiplier is $1.

Mega Millions tix are $1. Its multiplier is also $1.

Neither multiplier affects the jackpot. It only affects the lower prizes.

dahmers love zombie: GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

Aren't they $2 each now? Or is Florida just screwing with everyone?

Powerball is $2 now. My office pool won't play with them bastards anymore.

I threw my $5 into the office pool. If it hits, you'll never see my fatass again. I'll be in Palm Beach with my new friends.

AlwaysRightBoy: I'm thinking it will go to $6 million by Friday night, but who knows.

I was on the train this morning going to work and there was this guy sitting in front of me who had at least 20 copies that probably had ten $5 tickets on each from the last drawing. He was going thru all of the numbers without a pen or pencil for the full hour.

/Obviously an office pool but some of these people are hardcore

I guess we have it easy in Ohio. Here, all we have to do is go to a lottery seller and scan the tickets. If one is a winner, it'll let you know.

you know I've always thought of those lottery games as just another Federal tax @ the store....... I'm OK with throwing away a buck for a chance at being rich but no more then that........used to play a game called Powerball but when they raised the price to $2.00, ....I"m out......k/dar

oh and of course I"ll also throw in with the folks @ work just because I don't want to be the only one left @ that damn place if they won.......that would really suck.......k/dar

dustman81: I threw my $5 into the office pool. If it hits, you'll never see my fatass again. I'll be in Palm Beach with my new friends.

AlwaysRightBoy: I'm thinking it will go to $6 million by Friday night, but who knows.

I was on the train this morning going to work and there was this guy sitting in front of me who had at least 20 copies that probably had ten $5 tickets on each from the last drawing. He was going thru all of the numbers without a pen or pencil for the full hour.

/Obviously an office pool but some of these people are hardcore

I guess we have it easy in Ohio. Here, all we have to do is go to a lottery seller and scan the tickets. If one is a winner, it'll let you know.

You can scan 8.5x11 copies there?

We have machines everywhere in Manhattan that will let you scan the originals yourself, but not office copies.
//Are you going to trust the guy with the originals without copies? We make sure all the people paying into it have their names on the copies

PC LOAD LETTER: Just what CA needs: more insanely rich people.

dont you know they all already moved to texas?!?!?!

AlwaysRightBoy: dustman81: I threw my $5 into the office pool. If it hits, you'll never see my fatass again. I'll be in Palm Beach with my new friends.

AlwaysRightBoy: I'm thinking it will go to $6 million by Friday night, but who knows.

I was on the train this morning going to work and there was this guy sitting in front of me who had at least 20 copies that probably had ten $5 tickets on each from the last drawing. He was going thru all of the numbers without a pen or pencil for the full hour.

/Obviously an office pool but some of these people are hardcore

I guess we have it easy in Ohio. Here, all we have to do is go to a lottery seller and scan the tickets. If one is a winner, it'll let you know.

You can scan 8.5x11 copies there?

We have machines everywhere in Manhattan that will let you scan the originals yourself, but not office copies.
//Are you going to trust the guy with the originals without copies? We make sure all the people paying into it have their names on the copies

The lottery seller can scan originals, but not copies. The guy managing the pool scans and emails us the copies of the tickets.

so I am thinking about buying $100 worth. I can easily afford the 100.
but
I am so embarrassed that I will have to go down at like 4am to buy them so no one else sees me buying the tickets.

/sad but true

I was going to say that if I hit the jackpot I'd treat all of Fark to a one-night drunken bender, but $500 million might not be enough money to cover the tab.

WhyteRaven74: When the jackpots get past a certain point they grow faster than usual because you get people who normally don't play buying a ticket or two. Cause why the hell not?

I bought $5 worth of tickets for yesterday's and I'll get another $5 for Friday's. I can probably count on one hand the number of times in my life I played the lotto before this week, but at this point even I can't ignore it.

Oddly it's past a tipping point. Normally, if someone plays a lottery with one chance in 175 million, you'd rightly call them an idiot. But at this point, refusal to part with $1 for a chance at half a billion dollars in return makes you the idiot. Nobody manages their finances so tightly that $1 will make an impact.

DamnYankees: gameshowhost: Still no cure for negative expected returns.

Eh, just think of the negative expected return as the price you are paying for the joy of the daydream.

Sure, but it gets to be a problem when "daydream" turns into "investment strategy"... and that's all too common, if not the rule. Should be the exception.

/whole thing is a giant scam to hose the poor and uneducated (subsets which overlap quite a bit)
//'let's take that money... and put it into the reduction of property taxes :D'
///'poor/dumb people buy the tickets and they don't own any property trolololo'

I chipped in $10 to buy a bunch of tickets with some coworkers.

We had $20 worth of fun laughing about all of the people we'd fire after buying the company we work for, so even in the unlikely event that we don't win the $500 million, we're still ahead.

If I win I'm opening up a distillery in Idaho and a whorehouse in Nevada.

If you're throwing away $20 a week, then you can go with the "tax on people bad at math". But, there are an amazing number of Farkers that continue to prattle on with that when most of us throw away that amount of money at a fast food restaurant without a second thought.

Yes, there is an insanely small chance of winning. However, having a ticket makes your chances infinitely better than not playing.

You'd have to be kinda stupid not to throw away $5 or $10 at just the chance to walk away with the cash option check of $400m

And that means a free bottle for every BIE

OH PLEASE LORDY JESUS YOU KNOW I GOT TO WIN THIS ONE

I know my shot of winning is crap, but it's well worth the $5 just to have the pleasant thoughts of what one would do with that kind of cash. All of you debt, gone. You could live anywhere you want (Big Island for me), maybe start a small business that doesn't necessarily have to run a profit, just be enjoyable...
That's why I buy a ticket, just to have the possibilities to think about.

Oldiron_79: When I hit for half a BILLION dollars I fully intend to buy that volcano lair with the tank of sharks with frickin lasers

To be fair, you're only going to get $360m in the cash option.

Or, of course, 19 230 769 a year for the next 26 years. So, you'll probably have to go piece-meal on the supervillian lair

Medical Toilet: [www.dailyrumpypumpy.com image 640x337]

/oblig

A billion chicks...

I don't play regularly but I bought 20 bucks worth. Hell, I'd happily split it with 5 people. Helluva party if I do. Y'all are invited. Except those troll guys.

We're all pitching in 20 bucks at work. First time I've ever thrown money at the lottery.

I would eat a million dollars and then shiat richly, like kings of old.

Abox: If I won that money I would either share it until it was gone

Isn't this part of the dream? Thinking about everyone and everything you know that you could give money to and improve their lives? Thats the most fun part of it, to me.

If no one wins on Friday, could this get up to a billion?

Hell, I'd pay for every Farker to have TF free for one solid year if I won that kind of money. Could you imagine TFD then?

August11: Ok. Just to remind everyone. There is only one way to proceed if you win.

1. Create a 501c3 charitable foundation with the money.
2. Make yourself CEO of foundation with a yearly salary of $180,000.
3. Spend the rest of your life wisely giving worthy causes money.
4. If you cannot seem to live a good life on that salary, then you should die.
5. Live a good life.

I think you do this AFTER you have put away something like $20M in a lockbox, just in case.

DamnYankees: If no one wins on Friday, could this get up to a billion?

The jackpot has already gone to plaid. What could possibly come after plaid?

DamnYankees: If no one wins on Friday, could this get up to a billion?

It would take more than one non-winning draw to get to a billion. It was last won on January 24th. So, it started at $12m on the 27th and 18 consecutive non-winners.

Now, it has gone up $137m in between these two drawings. I'm not sure if it goes up again before Friday.

Even if we assume (with a non winner), that people start buying more and more...I would think it would take 3 more drawings, at least, before it got to a 10 digit jackpot

bluorangefyre: Could you imagine TFD then?

That's a hell of a way to spend 40m....

AeAe: The cash annuity option is 359 million. After federal and state taxes, that's down to 179 million.

not even worth it.

Pretty sure its impossible for federal and state taxes to take more than half your income.

August11: Your "just in case" brain is a handicap. You know this already, though.

Lizard brain FTW

Using the eFile calculator on an income of $359,000,000...I got a federal tax payment of $125,623,989.

AeAe: Well.. What's the highest fed tax bracket? 35%?

To be fair, you'd only be paying 35% on the last 358,600,000 or so

bulldg4life: DamnYankees: If no one wins on Friday, could this get up to a billion?

It would take more than one non-winning draw to get to a billion. It was last won on January 24th. So, it started at $12m on the 27th and 18 consecutive non-winners.

Now, it has gone up $137m in between these two drawings. I'm not sure if it goes up again before Friday.

Even if we assume (with a non winner), that people start buying more and more...I would think it would take 3 more drawings, at least, before it got to a 10 digit jackpot

I'd get an RV and turn it into a vet office on wheels, free spays and neuters, free vetting, and give big to animal rescue groups, in addition to hooking up all my family and friends, and investing. Not to mention helping random deserving strangers. Fun to dream.

AeAe: DamnYankees: AeAe: The cash annuity option is 359 million. After federal and state taxes, that's down to 179 million.

not even worth it.

Pretty sure its impossible for federal and state taxes to take more than half your income.

Well.. What's the highest fed tax bracket? 35%? State taxes are 10% and we have this b.s. 'local' tax of 5%... that sure looks pretty darn close to 50%.

You deduct your state and local taxes from your income when you pay federal taxes. Otherwise its double taxation.

AeAe: The cash annuity option is 359 million. After federal and state taxes, that's down to 179 million.

not even worth it.

Depends on the state. In GA, for example, state tax is 6%, leaving a total of about 212m. whereas in NJ (10.8%, highest I could find) the take-home amount is 194m. There's also city taxes where applicable.

Still, I'm not sure how you get down to 179m. Payroll taxes are not applicable.

GAT_00: I bought 5. Might get some more tomorrow. I'm not dumb enough to expect to win, it's just fun to imagine what I could do with all of it, and you can't win if you don't play.

Besides, I've wasted $5 in far dumber ways before.

I can see wasting a dollar, or whatever the minimum buy-in, for the chance (however miniscule it may be).
That buys me the same daydream's worth of entertainment as $5, without reducing this week's beer budget by 5%

Your odds barely increase laying above minimum vs the pct decrease in your wallet

So, I'll take the $247,710,000 that I would get in Georgia...

Give me the $47m+ to blow on anything I can think of...I'll invest $200m in a nice medium risk fund getting 8% and I'll have a solid $1.6b when I'm 50.

Show of hands on the people who would look to go halves on a sports team?

bulldg4life: Show of hands on the people who would look to go halves on a sports team?

I'd rather just own amazing seats.

DamnYankees: bulldg4life: Show of hands on the people who would look to go halves on a sports team?

I'd rather just own amazing seats.

I dunno, man.

I'd really like to get some of those black badges that the Atlanta Braves executive management gets. Those things get you in everywhere...even the cheerleader's pants...

Ashtrey: Maybe 4.8 after a 40 % capital gains tax

Where in the hell are you paying 40% capital gains?

bulldg4life: Ashtrey: Maybe 4.8 after a 40 % capital gains tax

Where in the hell are you paying 40% capital gains?

If you don't hold it for a certain period of time its taxed as income. Maybe that's what he meant.

CBob: A little hard work and you could turn that into some real money there.

Why bother? Stick the ~$400 million in an account earning 4-5% interest. Sit on your lazy butt and collect $16-20 million in risk free profit every year.

AeAe: The cash annuity option is 359 million. After federal and state taxes, that's down to 179 million.

not even worth it.

According to the website, it's no state taxes and 25% federal.

359 * 0.75 = $269.25 million

I would really like to set up a massive scholarship fund for my old high school. Something along the lines of the Kalamazoo Promise

The correct answer is...: I don't usually play the Lotto, but I'll be damned if I'm the only one at work who doesn't pitch in on the group ticket. I would literally have to kill myself.

CSB time:

Back in the late 80's or early 90's, a group of department store employees in California bought a group ticket from the shopping mall kiosk, and won something like $25M. The sole employee who didn't pitch in (because he was out sick on the day the ticket was purchased) was left high and dry. He stayed on at that department store, and less than six months later when the jackpot got high again, another group of employees from the same department store (who purchased their group ticket at the same kiosk) won it all. He didn't participate that time because he figured that Lotto luck lightning couldn't strike twice.

History never recorded what became of that man.

I'd trim this reply for brevity, but I'm on the mobile. Heard about an office pool...always played the same numbers, took turns buying. One guy, in a rush, did quick pick instead of those numbers. The numbers won several million; the ticket buyer had to leave town to escape the death threat from his co-poolers.

MaxxLarge: Pfffft...As if it matters. I have the winning ticket, so all of you losers don't even need to bother buying one.

Seriously, stay home.

Ha! I bought my tickets before your god like musings....it's all mine, MINE I SAY!

bulldg4life: Show of hands on the people who would look to go halves on a sports team?

Are strippers and coke a 'sports team'? In!

Bought 5 bucks worth. Why not?

If I win, first step is to call up some lawyers and set up a blind trust to collect the winnings. No need for every person I have ever met to come asking for money. After that I'll pay off all my debts, buy a home for myself, another one for the parents, and send my sisters through college. Next step would be to invest most of the money in something low risk, and another part in high risk ventures. That's when I start buying ridiculous stuff. Season tickets behind home plate, amazing cars, and a boat made of coke that is full of hookers.

phrawgh: It's a sure fire bet compared to the expectation of any of us collecting social security, or any of our 401k's being worth a shiat.

/You have to be over 80 to win it anyway.

do you have a 401k? cause mine is up more with obama than 8 years of bush

Nicholas Urfe: That's what the payor (the lottery) has to withhold on gambling winnings. It's not the payee's tax liability.

Ya, I figured that out from other people's posts. Thanks for the heads up. I know less than nothing about tax law.

AeAe: HB, .. there will be state tax.

No state tax on lottery winnings (new window)

you are a puppet: Where are accounts with these rates being offered?

Not at your local BofA or credit union... Talk to a financial adviser.

Driver: If I win, there'll be a 2012 Camaro ZL1 up on blocks in front of the double-wide just for fun.

There was a guy on the local news years ago that trolled the reporters asking people lined up in front of the gas station for tickets (border town next to a non-lottery state) by answering what he'd do with the 20 million or whatever it was..."I'd buy a new skirt for the trailer!"

AeAe: That's for California. Mega Millions is played in 46 states and some of those states tax lottery winnings. Like mine, for example. .

Wait... You don't live in CA? I'm sorry.

One in ten odds suck.

First things first:

1)verify reality, make sure ticket is real.. double, triple, quaduple, as many times as neccesary to make sure I'm not hallucinating.
1)contact lawyer and accountant, put them on retainer.(luckily I have access to a good pair that have done work for my family for years)
2)claim solid cash chunk, pay off taxes, pay off any debt(almost none)
3)purchase modest local home, trick it out, update it, make it mine(like sub 200k home).
4)work with accountant and lawyer to set up a small trust whose sole purpose is to pay every home related bill.. utilities, taxes, landscaping, pantry stocking, whatever, and make it ironclad, "I can't ever touch that money". Make it just big enough to generate enough interest in a very very ultra safe way. And again, I reiterate, design it so that I can never take that money out. Permanent and irrevocable. This guarantees that no matter what else might happen, me or whoever I want will always have a safe home to live cheaply. (I'm spitballing that 3 million tops is all I would need to set aside for this.)
5)set up five similar trusts for me, mom, 2 brothers and sister, minus the house.. this pays income.. moderate middle class 40ish k a year (my mom can stay in my house, or with a sibling, whatever)
6)I figure at this point I have put about 18 million in irrevocable trusts, and probably have paid my lawyer and accountant very well, say a million each, so far. putting me at about 20million spent.

What do I do with the rest? Start a small business that I enjoy. Buy some health insurance. Explore living in another state, or several. Still a good amount of big land out in the great big West. Get my health in order.

I get so sick of people who are like "yeah if you win it you'll just be broke in 10 years". No dickholes, maybe your white trash ass will be, but not me.

August11: Ok. Just to remind everyone. There is only one way to proceed if you win.

1. Create a 501c3 charitable foundation with the money.
2. Make yourself CEO of foundation with a yearly salary of $180,000.
3. Spend the rest of your life wisely giving worthy causes money.
4. If you cannot seem to live a good life on that salary, then you should die.
5. Live a good life.

A very well-off guy I know was legally prevented from setting up a nonprofit foundation by the state because he would be the only source of funds to the foundation. Might be more to the story but that was how it was presented. Kind of sad because it would have been the first research foundation of its kind. I guess the rule is there to prevent fraud.

0Icky0: neongoats: Explore living in another state, or several.

Mr. Adventure :-)
An XX for you, sir!

heh, "state" could be nation state too. I don't care, my point was just that that kind of money leaves plenty of room for some "smart play it safe" future planning, and still plenty of money to piss away.

Anyone willing to buy a ticket for me, since I'm not States-side and so am unable to get one myself? Tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. If the ticket wins the jackpot, just give me 5 million dollars of the winnings and you can keep the rest for your trouble and kindness. Sound fair?

/what?

Patronick313: Federal withholdings are 25%.

State withholdings are as follows:

I assume the withholdings are based on the state where the ticket was sold - anyone know for sure? Otherwise, since you usually have 180/365 days to claim the prize, if you bought the winning ticket in some place like Taxachusetts, it seems like it could potentially be worth several million dollars to move to some place with no state lotto tax like California, establish residency, and THEN claim your winnings.

/and the lulz of the world not knowing for weeks/months who won $500 million, speculating on whether ticket was thrown out by accident, etc, would be fun too

jat26006: mavexe: redly1: I sound fat: The Onion is prophetic: The odds of winning are 176,000,000 to one. Therefore, I just need to buy 176,000,000 tickets, and I'm guaranteed to triple my money!

/farkin' probability, how does it work?

This is probably why it jumped from 467M to 500M in the early morning. someone...or 2 someones may be doing this already.

some killer math skills you have there

yeah, but that's a good way to get burned by multiple winners. Two people win and you're only break even. If three people win you're farked.

But what are the chances that another person would win????

It always seems that when the jackpots get above 300m, there are multiple winners more often than not. It's just a matter of so many people playing, the chances of multiple winners go up significantly, assuming a random distribution of number picks.

If your curious about what the actual payout would be after federal and state taxes, there's a website that breaks it down for each state:
Link (new window)

Of course this is just the initial payout, not the full tax liability. If you buy the ticket out of your state of residence, the final taxes ends up pretty much being the higher state tax of where the ticket was purchased or your state of residence.

/Played $10 because why the hell not

Oldiron_79:
If you live near to a state with a radically lower state income tax (like as in a state without one) buy your ticket in that state and if you win change your residency to that state before going to the lotto office to collect.

Winning

I couldn't imagine having the winning ticket just sitting around while I wait for residency of a new state to take effect. I'll be paranoid of something happening to it. Plus, until it was actually verified, I probably wouldn't even believe it was real.

I'd be really surprised if a jackpot of this size isn't won by 4-5 separate tickets, with at least one of them being a large office pool. Of course, I said that before Tuesday's drawing and not a single ticket won. It sure would be interesting if only one person one the jackpot, just to see where they are five or ten years down the road.

Bought twenty
day dreams alone are worth it

Thorazine: Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. I thought the same thing until talking with the Finance Director at the company I work for.

Could you share some additional details? As I've said before, my knowledge about this sort of thing is minimal.

At this point, what's $5 for a shot at $250M after all the taxes and whatnot.

If I have the winning ticket, I'm paying for a stint at Betty Ford for some lucky FARKer and beer for the losers.

/did I get that right?

I'd also like to find a '70 Challenger convertible, like the one my neighbor had for sale in 1982 and I couldn't afford. No Ferrari or Rolls for this girl.