Gullible as in they bought into the idea that you have to be in it to win it? Wow, that's just...wow. How dumb do you have to be to believe that? I'll tell you, max dumb.

They like to brag about no income tax. They pay Stupidity Tax instead.

vincentfox: They like to brag about no income tax. They pay Stupidity Tax instead.

These are the people who work for the people who moved there because there's no income tax.

I got a coffee, a muffin, and a quick-pick Powerball ticket this morning at 7-11. It's $2, BFD.

I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

If you're going to play, you might as well when the payout is highest. Your odds are still the same.

/doesn't play

Old people love them some Lottery. I can't explain it. Maybe they seek redemption for all the wrong turns they've made throughout life: married the wrong person, farked up their kids, picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue. Winning a couple hundred million (after taxes) would forgive all.

Nevermind the the New Yorkers' lined up around convenience stores?

Why all the hate for lottery players, I won 100k 15 years ago and a friend of mine hit 5 out of 6... TWICE.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million.

Rapmaster2000: If you're going to play, you might as well when the payout is highest. Your odds are still the same.

Fark is better than Yahoo Answers.

At least it's their choice to pay stupid tax. Got my ticket, come on lucky 7.

Lottery is tax on people who can't do math. Except, if you do the math, the EV on a ticket for this jackpot (assuming only one winner) is $3.22, using the odds and payout from this article.

If you have 2 winners, your EV drops $1.79, still not horrible if you consider that the main value in a lottery ticket is enjoyment and excitement.

Subby is gullible in terms of believing everything he has read about how bad lotteries are.

When I win, TOTAL FARK FOR EVERYONE!

ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

I hope to win and donate $250k to a new charity...each week...for the rest of my life...and kids lives...

Rapmaster2000: If you're going to play, you might as well when the payout is highest. Your odds are still the same.

/doesn't play

Not entirely true. On the bigger payouts, there is a greater liklihood that someone will duplicate your winning numbers and dilute the main pot.

tricycleracer: I got a coffee, a muffin, and a quick-pick Powerball ticket this morning at 7-11. It's $2, BFD.

This.

For the slightest chance at $500 million I'll piss $2 away. I'll skip a bag of chips with lunch or something and call it even.

MycroftHolmes: Lottery is tax on people who can't do math. Except, if you do the math, the EV on a ticket for this jackpot (assuming only one winner) is $3.22, using the odds and payout from this article.

If you have 2 winners, your EV drops $1.79, still not horrible if you consider that the main value in a lottery ticket is enjoyment and excitement.

Subby is gullible in terms of believing everything he has read about how bad lotteries are.

Well, I would say it's bad for the guy in front of me at the liquor store buying 20 scratch-offs, three airplane bottles of vodak, and a Diet Coke.

I'm not saying my strict booze regimen is superior to his gambling regimen, but I'll probably get more enjoyment from my sixer of Dale's Pale Ale than he will from those scratch-offs... and for half the price.

BarkingUnicorn: I buy one random set of numbers good for ten drawings; $4 a week for a bit of entertaining fantasy. An $8 movie lasts only a couple of hours. Helluva deal.

Yet the knucklebreathers who blow $100 a week on video games and Firefly merchandise think you're stupid and can't math.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Maybe they want their parents and siblings to also have more money than they can ever spend.

drew is pedal: Why all the hate for lottery players, I won 100k 15 years ago and a friend of mine hit 5 out of 6... TWICE.

And no one I ever met, or anyone they've ever met has won more than $10. The odds are the odds, and they're remarkably long. You'd be way better off betting football or playing poker. Even then, the end result will be that most people get their money taken.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Over $175 million it becomes a "good" bet because the payout becomes greater than the odds of winning.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

I'm one of those...

The only time I play is when the odds shift in favor of the person playing. i.e. the odds of winning are something around 150,000,000 / 1. If the payout (after tax) is greater than 150,000,000 then I buy one.

Now that doesn't account for other people picking the same number but I like to live dangerously...

I'm more worried about how my life would change for the worse if I won. All I really need is to have 0 debt and I will be much happier.

MycroftHolmes: Rapmaster2000: If you're going to play, you might as well when the payout is highest. Your odds are still the same.

/doesn't play

Not entirely true. On the bigger payouts, there is a greater liklihood that someone will duplicate your winning numbers and dilute the main pot.

Agreed. Not entirely true. Your breakdown was good.

KungFuJunkie: ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

I hope to win and donate $250k to a new charity...each week...for the rest of my life...and kids lives...

Yeah even with taxes and the hit you take for the cash option I still think you'd end up somewhere between $250-300 million. I'd keep just enough to be comfortable in a upper middle class lifestyle for the rest of my life, give some to friends and family, but the bulk would go to some good charities.

someguy945:

Maybe they want their parents and siblings to also have more money than they can ever spend.

Or maybe I want to see how fast my redneck cousins can OD.

Rapmaster2000: MycroftHolmes: Lottery is tax on people who can't do math. Except, if you do the math, the EV on a ticket for this jackpot (assuming only one winner) is $3.22, using the odds and payout from this article.

If you have 2 winners, your EV drops $1.79, still not horrible if you consider that the main value in a lottery ticket is enjoyment and excitement.

Subby is gullible in terms of believing everything he has read about how bad lotteries are.

Well, I would say it's bad for the guy in front of me at the liquor store buying 20 scratch-offs, three airplane bottles of vodak, and a Diet Coke.

I'm not saying my strict booze regimen is superior to his gambling regimen, but I'll probably get more enjoyment from my sixer of Dale's Pale Ale than he will from those scratch-offs... and for half the price.

Not talking about scratchoffs, or all lotteries, talking about tonight's drawing. In general, most lotteries and scratchoffs have a significantly negative EV. But tonight might be OK.

special20: Florida citizens were told that lottery income would go toward public schools.

LOL

According to the Florida Lottery, $1.28 billion in proceeds went to Florida schools, about 5% of the education budget in 2008-2009.

After 50 cents of every gambled lottery dollar is given back in prize money and operating expenses swallow another 20 cents, on average, leaving just 30 cents of every lottery dollar going back to the state.

LOL indeed.

I'm just going to get in the habit and post this in *every* Florida thread I'm happy to come across.

KungFuJunkie: ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

I hope to win and donate $250k to a new charity...each week...for the rest of my life...and kids lives...

At a burn rate of 13 million a year, I hope for your sake your returns on principle are somewhere between Greece bonds and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

2 reasons for huge sales in Florida:

1) Its snowbird season, so all the other states multiple income retirees are here, and convinced they need more money

2) FL is still hurting BAD from the recession. Decent jobs are hard to find, foreclosures are still rampant. New home construction is still stagnant...and construction was the mainstay of the FL economy, even more than tourism. Most people here are either unemployed or underemployed...cant blame them for taking a chance.

tricycleracer: I got a coffee, a muffin, and a quick-pick Powerball ticket this morning at 7-11. It's $2, BFD.

Yeah, I have no problem paying $2 to imagine for awhile what I would do with an insane amount of money. And really only $1 for me since my roommate and I go halfsies on them when it gets high.


/Bicycle chains in bulk. Dozens of them
//Gonna lock up the bikes of random asshat bike messengers in the city
///Deal with that for a while you sidewalk-riding, against-traffic-going, pedestrian-ignoring, helmet-lacking, fixie-owning assholes
///No jury in this town would convict me

Bought mine here in Pennsylvania, let the machine picked them but did not look at the numbers for superstition reasons and to make it more exciting for me. It would be awesome to win but would keep a strict vow of silence if I do. If I don't, I hope somebody else does so the madness about this will end.

For the times I do play I have the spare change sitting in my car. Better buy a ticket than having a drink break my window.

PAL, princiPAL. Fail.

Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

So some lucky Floridiot has the best chance of being able to buy a new trailer. Good to know.

Of the states that can play Powerball, the 3 most populated are:

Texas, 25 million people
New York 19.5 million people
Florida 19 million people (Plus a hell of a lot of tourists this time of year)

I'm not exactly shocked as the rest of you that the most tickets have been sold in Florida.

I'd hire a Dutchman to set fire to Grover Norquist.

Me & the roomate bought a ticket if we will legal battle of epic proportions. We did it just for shiats and giggles. But if I do win I am buying the tackiest bathroom EVER!!! Marble toilet with a gold seat tacky.

Comic Book Guy: KungFuJunkie: ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

I hope to win and donate $250k to a new charity...each week...for the rest of my life...and kids lives...

At a burn rate of 13 million a year, I hope for your sake your returns on principle are somewhere between Greece bonds and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

5% on 300 mil. Compounded daily is 15 mil each year.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million.

Assume your odds of winning are 1 in 150,000,000. Assume as well that that the after tax lump sum winnings for a given drawing are $149,999,999. You should not play, because the value of that ticket E= expected return is the odds of winning times the payput, so $149,999,999/150,000,000 which is less than the $1 you would pay for the ticket. If the payout is greater than $150,000,000 then you should play.

I'm not sure what the odds are or after tax lump payout is for a $500M Powerball, so I don't know if a ticket is intrinsically worth more or less than the $2 they're asking.

This is a simplified example that doesn't factor the odds of multiple winners into the value of that ticket.

Of course this doesn't consider the simple pleasure that hope provides while you ponder how you are going to tell your boss to piss off. For a couple bucks, who cares? It's only a tax on those who are bad at math if some dope at a hedge fund wanted to buy all possible combinations for $150M when the payout is guaranteed to be less than $150M. Of course some one that stupid would not be hired by a hedge fund.

A fool and his money, etc.

/still holding out for Publisher's Clearinghouse

special20: Florida citizens were told that lottery income would go toward public schools.

LOL

It paid for me, and most of my friends, to go to college through the state's Bright Futures program, so I'm not complaining.

Two words: old people

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million.

Because television and radio announcers talk about the upcoming big jackpot for a week straight?

Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

It doesn't work because as the jackpot goes up, the number of tickets purchased goes up, so the odds of there being a second winner also go up.

If you buy every possible ticket you're guaranteed a share of the jackpot, not the whole thing. You have to split it with whoever else has a winning ticket. If there's a second winner, you're at a huge loss.

Also, the quality of daydreams about spending $500 million that I'll have today is well worth a $2 ticket.

Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

You aren't accounting for duplicate winners. If your take gets split two or three ways, you lose money.

spyderqueen: ///No jury in this town would convict me

Especially if you were a multimillionaire.

I wipe my ass with $2. As mentioned, daydreaming of $500m is worth throwing away $2.

JokerMattly: spyderqueen: ///No jury in this town would convict me

Especially if you were a multimillionaire.

Also a plus, yes.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Well technically as your odds are winning are greater than the total cost of buying all the tickets. Its worth it... If you can buy 175 million tickets.
That said, if they also increased the payouts to the lower prizes when the jackpot got big, I might just play, but all of their payouts are ridiculously low, $100 for a 1/50,000 chance or so. Blah

Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

When the payoff is high, that is the worst time to enter the lottery. No matter the payoff the odds of winning are the same. When the payoff is high more people enter, which means the chance of multiple winners goes up, which means the payoff to each winner goes down.

/ still bought a ticket
// get one every time I fill the vehicle
/// about every 1-2 weeks

special20: Florida citizens were told that lottery income would go toward public schools.

LOL

They advertise the same thing here in Kansas City. "Help your public schools and purchase a lottery ticket."

From what I have read by some pretty credible sources, the money does go into a fund that is used for public education. However, the problem is that many state governments then transfer the money to the general fund and it is used to pay for whatever they want.

Who knows. I am sure every state is different. But I do not believe it helps education very much at all.

Cast: I wipe my ass with $2.

I take my $2 to Taco Bell.

/Which results in much ass wiping

I played Powerball for the first time today. I had a break during work, walked down to the local 7-11 bought a ticket. If I win, I'm gonna post pictures of the all the hookers I buy on my myFark account. They'll all be leaning against my new Ferrari.
/With my luck, I'll be struck by lightning on the way to collect my winnings

Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

The problem with covering the spread is that you are assuming you are the only winner. I'm pretty sure as ticket sales go up, the probability of multiple winners also does, significantly. I'll bet that the odds of at least one winner is close to 85% at this point. So it would be tough to get the cash prize at the values to give a significant return on the investment.

Even if you could cover the spread, how would you go about procuring the 176 million tickets?

someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

But that's, like, totally different. When I'm with my bros on a sick burner at the 'Jack table I know I'm in control. It's all skill, bro. There's no luck involved when yell "HIT!" in that dealer's face and she trembles a little bit because she knows her pit boss will be pissed that she's just handing me the keys to the place.

/Call me double-down, bro.

Smeggy Smurf: Brubold: KungFuJunkie: ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

I hope to win and donate $250k to a new charity...each week...for the rest of my life...and kids lives...

Yeah even with taxes and the hit you take for the cash option I still think you'd end up somewhere between $250-300 million. I'd keep just enough to be comfortable in a upper middle class lifestyle for the rest of my life, give some to friends and family, but the bulk would go to some good charities.

Bad idea. You're going to need something to do. Don't give the money away to somebody else. Go to college, learn how to run a charity and then do it for the next 30-40 years. You'll be happier and know exactly where the money went.

I've been dabbling with pottery for a few years. I'd buy myself a little place with a kiln or two and spend my time doing that.

I never bothered with the lottery crap until someone in my office won $32k this year.

I'm in for $4 on this drawing. I've pissed away far more money on far worse things. Hell, I've had far worse stock trades in the past.

DubyaHater: I played Powerball for the first time today. I had a break during work, walked down to the local 7-11 bought a ticket. If I win, I'm gonna post pictures of the all the hookers I buy on my myFark account. They'll all be leaning against my new Ferrari.
/With my luck, I'll be struck by lightning on the way to collect my winnings

That would be like rain on my wedding day.

MycroftHolmes: Lottery is tax on people who can't do math. Except, if you do the math, the EV on a ticket for this jackpot (assuming only one winner) is $3.22, using the odds and payout from this article.

If you have 2 winners, your EV drops $1.79, still not horrible if you consider that the main value in a lottery ticket is enjoyment and excitement.

Subby is gullible in terms of believing everything he has read about how bad lotteries are.

This.

With nothing to lose, I'd open a restaurant and poach the best talent in the country. If it ends up being a $5 million boondoggle, at least I had a lot of fun.

MindStalker: Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Well technically as your odds are winning are greater than the total cost of buying all the tickets. Its worth it... If you can buy 175 million tickets.
That said, if they also increased the payouts to the lower prizes when the jackpot got big, I might just play, but all of their payouts are ridiculously low, $100 for a 1/50,000 chance or so. Blah

No. Even if you were the only winner, you've covered the spread with 350million dollars for a cash payout of ~270million. Remember PowerBall is $2/ticket. Even if it was MegaMillions, covering the spread is still a bet on you are the only winner. I'm fairly positive the chance of multiple winners at this point is upwards of 50%.

tricycleracer: With nothing to lose, I'd open a restaurant and poach the best talent in the country. If it ends up being a $5 million boondoggle, at least I had a lot of fun.

I want to eat at that restaurant.

madgonad: tricycleracer: With nothing to lose, I'd open a restaurant and poach the best talent in the country. If it ends up being a $5 million boondoggle, at least I had a lot of fun.

I want to eat at that restaurant.

BBQ'd boondoggle sounds good.

I would fund a diversified portfolio of private equity, incubators and accelerators with a a broad range of investment philosophies, risk tolerances, and hurdle rates. I would keep less than $5 mill as liquid and directly in my own name. The rest would be involved in actively funding economic growth

But Utah wins because of the extra Degree of Difficulty points because we have to drive to Idaho.

tricycleracer

With nothing to lose, I'd open a restaurant and poach the best talent in the country.


I'm not a big fan of poached talent. Can you put oven-roasted talent on the menu?

I find it hard to think about how much money it really is. For instance, let's just say for the sake of entertaining the fantasy, that as you left college and some company payed you a starting salary of six figures. With no pay increases over your working lifetime, you've "only" made about 4.7 million dollars if you retire at 65. Remember, that's the gross of what you've made.

Your lifetime earnings are less than 1% of the jackpot and ~2% of the payout.

H31N0US: Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million.

Assume your odds of winning are 1 in 150,000,000. Assume as well that that the after tax lump sum winnings for a given drawing are $149,999,999. You should not play, because the value of that ticket E= expected return is the odds of winning times the payput, so $149,999,999/150,000,000 which is less than the $1 you would pay for the ticket. If the payout is greater than $150,000,000 then you should play.

I'm not sure what the odds are or after tax lump payout is for a $500M Powerball, so I don't know if a ticket is intrinsically worth more or less than the $2 they're asking.

This is a simplified example that doesn't factor the odds of multiple winners into the value of that ticket.

Of course this doesn't consider the simple pleasure that hope provides while you ponder how you are going to tell your boss to piss off. For a couple bucks, who cares? It's only a tax on those who are bad at math if some dope at a hedge fund wanted to buy all possible combinations for $150M when the payout is guaranteed to be less than $150M. Of course some one that stupid would not be hired by a hedge fund.

These kinds of pot odds calculations work in poker, where sensible amounts of money are at stake, but they don't take into account the law of diminishing returns. When you're talking millions, the first million is worth way more to you than the second million. And the added value of millions number 76, 93, and 114 become vanishingly small. Basically, you never have pot odds to play the lottery.

snocone: SoupJohnB: A fool and his money, etc.

/still holding out for Publisher's Clearinghouse

Get Forever stamps.

Methinks is just a shill for the USPS.

I do purchase them, although about the only things I mail now are Christmas and birthday cards. One book of stamps lasts about a year.

/still old-fashioned that way

The odds are astronomical, but a Floridian has the best chance of winning Wednesday's Powerball jackpot of approximately $500 million.

That's because we're No. 1 in Powerball ticket sales. Lottery officials note that since the game began its dry spell on Oct. 3, Florida players have bought $83 million worth of tickets. That's more than anywhere else in the country.

Does this idiot even know what "probability" means?

how much to buy every possible combination?

snocone: I, for one, am just thrilled at the thought of all that nice jucey Tax Money.
The Fed wins EVERY Lottery!

Could we have more lottery Tax and jump The Cliff?



Gooby, pls.

Tommy Moo: These kinds of pot odds calculations work in poker, where sensible amounts of money are at stake, but they don't take into account the law of diminishing returns. When you're talking millions, the first million is worth way more to you than the second million. And the added value of millions number 76, 93, and 114 become vanishingly small. Basically, you never have pot odds to play the lottery.

I'm with you. Which is why I'll sometimes buy a ticket when the payout dictates an intrinsic value much less than $1.

Why? I know my odds are the same (somewhere between zero and approximately zero), and I don't need more than a few $million to be able to change lifestyles away from commuting into NYC and working middle management for a soul crushing family held pseudo-public mega corporation. I'm not a whiz but also not particularly bad at math: aced 4 semesters each of calc and stochastics at decent schools.

To me that means that the ticket has more value in the marketplace than that implied by pure math.

stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

madgonad: stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

They need the jackpot just to pay their state taxes.

madgonad: stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

They are smart enough to know that it's their best shot at getting the hell out of Massachusetts, I guess.

madgonad: stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

Seriously (I know I am replying to myself) $4B/year is about $740 for every man, woman, and child in the state. Maybe there is some cross-border action with a neighbor state coming over to buy millions of tickets?

tricycleracer: madgonad: stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

They need the jackpot just to pay their state taxes.

That is a misnomer. MA income taxes are 5.3% and sales taxes are ~6% for the state. That barely puts them in the top half of state tax rates. The Taxxachusetts myth came from the willingness of their Federal reps/senators to raise taxes on the Federal level instead of borrowing.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

yeah but what if you want special pants??

madgonad: tricycleracer: madgonad: stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

They need the jackpot just to pay their state taxes.

That is a misnomer. MA income taxes are 5.3% and sales taxes are ~6% for the state. That barely puts them in the top half of state tax rates. The Taxxachusetts myth came from the willingness of their Federal reps/senators to raise taxes on the Federal level instead of borrowing.

The Taxachusetts name was not a myth in the 1970s (when the nickname originated), when commonwealth and local taxes as a percentage of total income was near the highest in the country. This is not the case now, as you correctly note -- MA is actually below the national average in this statistic -- but the name was not spun out of whole cloth, and it never had to do with federal taxation.

if i won...i'd buy World of Warcaft subscription for the next 20 years and buy every mount and companion in the Blizzard store. Then I'd upgrade my computer to the max and get a 42 inch LCD to play it on and then...

hmm... i'm screwed.

/probably be dead within the year.
//part of the 70%

Well they did end up voting for Obama.

The mostest, head-hurting in America, headline which will makes my brains hurts. Subby must, lives in, FLori-duh!!

madgonad: Anybody else surprised to see Massachusetts, the best educated state in the Union, coming in #2 in stupid-tax sales?

Disposable income maybe? It's one of the richest states in the country, even on the low end. It's also got a lot of blue collar derp.

themasterdebater: if i won...i'd buy World of Warcaft subscription for the next 20 years and buy every mount and companion in the Blizzard store. Then I'd upgrade my computer to the max and get a 42 inch LCD to play it on and then...

hmm... i'm screwed.

/probably be dead within the year.
//part of the 70%

Yes, if you're homeless and hungry and you buy a ticket you are a delusional moran.

But if you make a comfortable living or better, this is no different than buying imported beer or ordering two appetizers because they both sound good. It's simply how you "play" with your "fun" money.

Fail to see the subby on account of the extremely high horse he has perched upon.

FOOL meet MONEY
You will both be soon parted.

ChrisDe: They all hope to win, retire and live near the ocean.

Buying a ticket and dreaming about the next-to-impossible outcome is always the allure. But a half-billion dollars... is enough to give one pause.

That's serious money, in any game. Even with the lump-sum payment and capital gains taxes backed out... you'd still be a global player.

That's almost intimidating, even for a fantasy.

stonelotus: "Florida ranks third in overall lottery-ticket sales, with more than $4 billion per year, behind New York ($7 billion) and Massachusetts ($4.8 billion). Both of those states also offer MegaMillions."

Florida is the fourth most populous state, NY is the third. Something odd is going on in Massachusetts (#14).

Wait wasn't there several betting pools from MIT or something that would spend millions? And the state lotto supported it. That may account for some of the spending.

Guns n' Farkin Roses: When I win, TOTAL FARK FOR EVERYONE!

Is that a threat?

someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

Outside of Keno (which is basically the Casino's lottery) all Casino games have much lower takes than the average lottery a 10% is pretty high (some craps bets, double 0 roulette, and really poor strategy blackjack). Most of the popular casino games run 2-6% takes, vs 30-50% house cut for just about every lottery game.

Why do I always get stuck behind that person at the gas station buying 6 different scratchers tickets, state lottery, PowerBall, Mega Millions, the morning Daily Pick, the afternoon Daily Pick, the evening Daily Pick and Keno?

Why? Why? Why?

SuperNinjaToad: how much to buy every possible combination?

Wikipedia says the odds to win are about 1 in 170 million, so there are 170 million possible jackpot combos. Each combo will cost you $2, so for $340 million you can guarantee a win, but there are a few issues:

0. You don't have $340 million.
1. If there is more than one winner, your winnings plummet rapidly. Even just 1 other winner and you're at a huge loss.
2. Does this particular lottery game allow you to select the numbers you want? I know some games don't.
3a. Taxes + lump sum penalty puts you at a net loss
3b. For the annuity option, taxes + opportunity cost of not tying up the $340 million in a different investment puts you at a net loss.

Thorazine: MindStalker: Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Well technically as your odds are winning are greater than the total cost of buying all the tickets. Its worth it... If you can buy 175 million tickets.
That said, if they also increased the payouts to the lower prizes when the jackpot got big, I might just play, but all of their payouts are ridiculously low, $100 for a 1/50,000 chance or so. Blah

No. Even if you were the only winner, you've covered the spread with 350million dollars for a cash payout of ~270million. Remember PowerBall is $2/ticket. Even if it was MegaMillions, covering the spread is still a bet on you are the only winner. I'm fairly positive the chance of multiple winners at this point is upwards of 50%.

I'm not sure it would be 50% yet. Last night they announced that with the number of tickets sold there was a 60% chance of a winner. So I would put the odds of multiple winners at a much lower number. Of course the percentages will rise with the additional tickets sold today.

nelsonal: someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

Outside of Keno (which is basically the Casino's lottery) all Casino games have much lower takes than the average lottery a 10% is pretty high (some craps bets, double 0 roulette, and really poor strategy blackjack). Most of the popular casino games run 2-6% takes, vs 30-50% house cut for just about every lottery game.

What's your point? They take your money more slowly, so you get more entertainment at a casino before they eventually bleed you dry?

Maybe someone finds casinos boring and holding a lottery ticket very exciting.

mjohnson71: Why do I always get stuck behind that person at the gas station buying 6 different scratchers tickets, state lottery, PowerBall, Mega Millions, the morning Daily Pick, the afternoon Daily Pick, the evening Daily Pick and Keno?

Why? Why? Why?

Because you were mean to that kid in elementary school.

/lotsa high horses up in the b*tch. I strained my neck looking up at y'all.

mjohnson71: Why do I always get stuck behind that person at the gas station buying 6 different scratchers tickets, state lottery, PowerBall, Mega Millions, the morning Daily Pick, the afternoon Daily Pick, the evening Daily Pick and Keno?

Why? Why? Why?

I got stuck behind the moron who wanted one quick pick for the Powerball then biatched that he didn't like the numbers he got.

Iceman_Cometh: mjohnson71: Why do I always get stuck behind that person at the gas station buying 6 different scratchers tickets, state lottery, PowerBall, Mega Millions, the morning Daily Pick, the afternoon Daily Pick, the evening Daily Pick and Keno?

Why? Why? Why?

I got stuck behind the moron who wanted one quick pick for the Powerball then biatched that he didn't like the numbers he got.

"Hey cashier-lady! These number ain't random enough!"

Found out a couple of weeks ago an old friend of me and my hubby's won a million bucks in the Florida lottery earlier this year. So I'm getting a kick...

snocone: I, for one, am just thrilled at the thought of all that nice jucey Tax Money.

And I am thrilled that public education might improve.

Wellon Dowd: Wellon Dowd: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

Back when Virginia ran its own game with only 44 balls an investor syndicate tried to do that. They ran out of time to cover all the numbers but I think they might have won anyway. The state lottery made certain rule changes to discourage such activity in the future.

Another problem with that strategy is possibly having to share the prize.

Thorazine: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

The problem with covering the spread is that you are assuming you are the only winner. I'm pretty sure as ticket sales go up, the probability of multiple winners also does, significantly. I'll bet that the odds of at least one winner is close to 85% at this point. So it would be tough to get the cash prize at the values to give a significant return on the investment.

Even if you could cover the spread, how would you go about procuring the 176 million tickets?

MycroftHolmes: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

You aren't accounting for duplicate winners. If your take gets split two or three ways, you lose money.

Just saying for instance if somehow you're the only buyer (zombie apocalypse or something).

Daniels: Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life. The most expensive house you could ever possibly want is somewhere around $20 million. You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

Over $175 million it becomes a "good" bet because the payout becomes greater than the odds of winning.

$2/ ticket. You meant $350M

Rvalldrgg: Wellon Dowd: Wellon Dowd: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

Back when Virginia ran its own game with only 44 balls an investor syndicate tried to do that. They ran out of time to cover all the numbers but I think they might have won anyway. The state lottery made certain rule changes to discourage such activity in the future.

Another problem with that strategy is possibly having to share the prize.

Thorazine: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guaranteed to win the lottery if the jackpot was high enough (to make profit) and if you bought enough tickets? Isn't the overall odds 1 in 176 Million or something? So 176M (exactly for easy maths) x $3 (price of ticket, or mine at least) would be $528M, which you'd have to make back that amount after taxes, so how high would that jackpot have to be before taxes? Nearly a billion dollars?

The problem with covering the spread is that you are assuming you are the only winner. I'm pretty sure as ticket sales go up, the probability of multiple winners also does, significantly. I'll bet that the odds of at least one winner is close to 85% at this point. So it would be tough to get the cash prize at the values to give a significant return on the investment.

Even if you could cover the spread, how would you go about procuring the 176 million tickets?

MycroftHolmes: Rvalldrgg: Kinda off topic, but still with all this lottery mumbo-jumbo, wouldn't there be a point where you'd be guarante ...

If you are saying no other buys, then it would be the point at which the money in the pot was greater than the % of rake they take off of each ticket, times the $175 million it would take to buy all the numbers. So, if you are the only buyer, and 60% of each ticket goes in the pot, you would need a jackpot greater than 70 million (now, this does not account for taxes, which would be significant).

spidermilk: someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

I don't buy lottery tickets and I actually don't gamble at casinos either. However, for some casino games your odds are WAY BETTER than the lottery. I'm talking about Craps, Blackjack, and Video Poker. Also, if you are playing for fun then who cares.

I don't really give two craps about what people wanna do with their money for fun. If you enjoy playing Powerball, go for it! I don't do it.I think most people realize it is fun to think/talk about what they'd do if they win, although their chances are very close to 0.

Yes, I think the people who tell me they have a "system" or a method of being "lucky" for any of these games are silly. Unless it is actually playing the normal 'rules' and knowing what your odds are. I had a chick describe in detail her method of playing slots the other day. She pulled three times on a machine and then moved to another one and always making the minimum bet on the minimum machine.

Craps and blackjack can be reduced down to below a 2% house advantage. I do not think that most video poker machines are nearly that generous. That being said, if you play long enough (and usually people who go to casinos play for a significant amount of time), even a 2% house advantage will kill you. For example, at 2%, the EV of $1 over 50 hands of blackjack is 36 cents. So, sitting at a casino for a couple of hours likely has a lower return than playing the lottery.

Tommy Moo: I don't understand why more people play powerball when it gets above $300 million. Do people not realize that $500 million and $100 million are exactly the same amount of money? Both are more than you can possibly spend in your entire life.

You have obviously never met my ex-wife.

Sliding Carp: There have been cases where that strategy worked very well for groups of smart people, but in those cases they were playing smaller games (not the big Powerball and MegaMillions) and those games had very very stupid rules for the house. (IIRC the rules in the case I was thinking about guaranteed fixed payouts per ticket if the pot was big enough. Not all the math ignorance is in the customers.)

You might be thinking of the Cash WinFall game from Massachusetts.

Got my offices 40 tickets in my hand right now. Figure that the 360 million, split 4 ways, minus taxes will still give me maybe $60 million. With that kind of money, I could buy the new TV I've been looking at, plus maybe a new BBQ grill.

I bought one ticket a yesterday, and plan on buying another tonight because I had a dream and actually got up and wrote the numbers down. Dumb? Sure. But it is 4 bucks and I promised the 7 year old if we won she can get a pony. We need something to dream about right now, sandy took our house away for God knows how long (month as of today) and the five kids and I need something to talk about that would be good instead of our every day BS. I want to go to Disney. Take them and stay in the castle. The 14 year old wants to go to universal for the Harry Potter ride. The 12 yr old wants to go to mit one day, so that would be paid for. The 4 and 2 yr old want blocks. Come to think of it we could probably accomplish all of this for less than a half a billion dollars. But like I said, 4 bucks to dream. Not a bad deal.

MycroftHolmes: spidermilk: someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

I don't buy lottery tickets and I actually don't gamble at casinos either. However, for some casino games your odds are WAY BETTER than the lottery. I'm talking about Craps, Blackjack, and Video Poker. Also, if you are playing for fun then who cares.

I don't really give two craps about what people wanna do with their money for fun. If you enjoy playing Powerball, go for it! I don't do it.I think most people realize it is fun to think/talk about what they'd do if they win, although their chances are very close to 0.

Yes, I think the people who tell me they have a "system" or a method of being "lucky" for any of these games are silly. Unless it is actually playing the normal 'rules' and knowing what your odds are. I had a chick describe in detail her method of playing slots the other day. She pulled three times on a machine and then moved to another one and always making the minimum bet on the minimum machine.

Craps and blackjack can be reduced down to below a 2% house advantage. I do not think that most video poker machines are nearly that generous. That being said, if you play long enough (and usually people who go to casinos play for a significant amount of time), even a 2% house advantage will kill you. For example, at 2%, the EV of $1 over 50 hands of blackjack is 36 cents. So, sitting at a casino for a couple of hours likely has a lower return than playing the lottery.

For the comparison to work, you'd have to buy lottery tickets 50 times in a row, too, would you not? In that case, the odds that your money grows little wings and goes flying out of your pocket with nothing to show for it is roughly 100%. Quit white-knighting lotteries. They're the stupidest form of gambling there is. The end.

Wellon Dowd: Back when Virginia ran its own game with only 44 balls an investor syndicate tried to do that. They ran out of time to cover all the numbers but I think they might have won anyway. The state lottery made certain rule changes to discourage such activity in the future.

Yep. They bought 5 million of the 7 million possible numbers. Including the winner.

Tommy Moo: You then have enough left over to spend $3000 every day for the rest of your life. I couldn't do that if I tried.

I could easily spend the rest of my days finding out what one person per day would do for $10,000, so I could run out early.

Spend a buck for a shot at millions? Sure, why not. I have a dollar to spare and if I win I get all my dreams. All of my nightmares too, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Fark it, Im in...

forgotmydamnusername: Quit white-knighting lotteries. They're the stupidest form of gambling there is. The end.

Somebody is going to win several hundred million dollars, they will be chosen from a list. Want your name on the list? That will be $2. It's as simple as that. Don't want to win, don't play.

forgotmydamnusername: MycroftHolmes: spidermilk: someguy945: Everyone criticizing gullible lottery players has never gambled at a casino, not even for fun, right? Right?

I don't buy lottery tickets and I actually don't gamble at casinos either. However, for some casino games your odds are WAY BETTER than the lottery. I'm talking about Craps, Blackjack, and Video Poker. Also, if you are playing for fun then who cares.

I don't really give two craps about what people wanna do with their money for fun. If you enjoy playing Powerball, go for it! I don't do it.I think most people realize it is fun to think/talk about what they'd do if they win, although their chances are very close to 0.

Yes, I think the people who tell me they have a "system" or a method of being "lucky" for any of these games are silly. Unless it is actually playing the normal 'rules' and knowing what your odds are. I had a chick describe in detail her method of playing slots the other day. She pulled three times on a machine and then moved to another one and always making the minimum bet on the minimum machine.

Craps and blackjack can be reduced down to below a 2% house advantage. I do not think that most video poker machines are nearly that generous. That being said, if you play long enough (and usually people who go to casinos play for a significant amount of time), even a 2% house advantage will kill you. For example, at 2%, the EV of $1 over 50 hands of blackjack is 36 cents. So, sitting at a casino for a couple of hours likely has a lower return than playing the lottery.

For the comparison to work, you'd have to buy lottery tickets 50 times in a row, too, would you not? In that case, the odds that your money grows little wings and goes flying out of your pocket with nothing to show for it is roughly 100%. Quit white-knighting lotteries. They're the stupidest form of gambling there is. The end.

To make the comparison easy for you to understand, the EV on a $2 spent playing one hand of blackjack is $1.98. On tonight's drawing, assuming one winner, the EV is about $3.22 on a single $2 ticket. I am not white knighting lotteries in general, as they are, by and large, a bad price for the amount of return they offer. But people who dismiss all lotteries without bothering to do the math are displaying a willful ignorance.

thurstonxhowell: forgotmydamnusername: Quit white-knighting lotteries. They're the stupidest form of gambling there is. The end.

I think they are a stupid form of gambling if you go ticket crazy and you spend money you don't have on a massive amount of tickets. But for a few bucks getting a chance to change not only your life, but the lives of others, eh. It's worth it.

someguy945: SuperNinjaToad: how much to buy every possible combination?

Wikipedia says the odds to win are about 1 in 170 million, so there are 170 million possible jackpot combos. Each combo will cost you $2, so for $340 million you can guarantee a win, but there are a few issues:

0. You don't have $340 million.
1. If there is more than one winner, your winnings plummet rapidly. Even just 1 other winner and you're at a huge loss.
2. Does this particular lottery game allow you to select the numbers you want? I know some games don't.
3a. Taxes + lump sum penalty puts you at a net loss
3b. For the annuity option, taxes + opportunity cost of not tying up the $340 million in a different investment puts you at a net loss.

ok make sense HOWEVER one has to wonder IF the pot becomes big enough someone who has $340 million can conceivably buy every combination and has more than a 50/50 chance of making a profit.

Win is a guarantee just that... will you win more than $340 million?

I assume the odds don;t increase just because the pot has. odds of winning are the same regardless.

Lives in florida and is quite guilty of this

i'm gonna build a skyline chili if i win!!

My local news reported that 27% of Powerball sales goes to schools. 4% goes to operating cost, 7% to stores that sell winning tickets and the rest to fund payouts.

Cloudchaser Sakonige the Red Wolf: My local news reported that 27% of Powerball sales goes to schools. 4% goes to operating cost, 7% to stores that sell winning tickets and the rest to fund payouts.

Stores that sell winning tickets? Do the stores that sell all the other tickets not get paid, or is their pay part of the "operating cost"?

thurstonxhowell: Cloudchaser Sakonige the Red Wolf: My local news reported that 27% of Powerball sales goes to schools. 4% goes to operating cost, 7% to stores that sell winning tickets and the rest to fund payouts.

Stores that sell winning tickets? Do the stores that sell all the other tickets not get paid, or is their pay part of the "operating cost"?



If I recall correctly (yes I'm too lazy to google it), the stores that sold winning tickets actually get a commission based on the amount that was won.

Dingleberry Dickwad: thurstonxhowell: Cloudchaser Sakonige the Red Wolf: My local news reported that 27% of Powerball sales goes to schools. 4% goes to operating cost, 7% to stores that sell winning tickets and the rest to fund payouts.

Stores that sell winning tickets? Do the stores that sell all the other tickets not get paid, or is their pay part of the "operating cost"?

If I recall correctly (yes I'm too lazy to google it), the stores that sold winning tickets actually get a commission based on the amount that was won.

That's what I was thinking of as well as thinking that the store's pay for selling any of the tickets counts as an operating cost