anyone play the lotto?

[Primemuscle]

I bet the minimum per game on Megabucks ($1) and Powerball ($2) for a total of $5 a week. It only takes one ticket to win. The most I ever won so far is about $60. Clearly it is a financially losing proposition. Still $5 so you can legitimately dream about winning the "big one" is small potatoes. At my age, I'd probably not have time to spend it if I won anyway.

Just so you know, I don't enjoy gambling per se. When in Vegas, I go to the shows and spend a lot of time people watching. I am the opposite of Uncle Junior. No poker games for me.

[El Diablo Blanco]

I bet the minimum per game on Megabucks ($1) and Powerball ($2) for a total of $5 a week. It only takes one ticket to win. The most I ever won so far is about $60. Clearly it is a financially losing proposition. Still $5 so you can legitimately dream about winning the "big one" is small potatoes. At my age, I'd probably not have time to spend it if I won anyway.

Just so you know, I don't enjoy gambling per se. When in Vegas, I go to the shows and spend a lot of time people watching. I am the opposite of Uncle Junior. No poker games for me.

Truly $1 to win.  With odds of 1/175 million, spending 1 dollar or even $1000 on tickets won't affect the odds.

[youandme]

Whenever I go into the convenience store, I usually see someone buying a lottery ticket or scatch-offs. These people tend to have very similar characteristics:

-middle aged to elderly
-also buying a pack of cigarettes
-also buying a 6 pack of beer
-looks like they have not showered in a few weeks
-looks like they have not shaved in a few weeks
-grumpy attitude
-extremely skinny or extremely overweight
-looks unhealthy
-may be missing a few teeth/poor dental hygiene

about right

[Primemuscle]

Whenever I go into the convenience store, I usually see someone buying a lottery ticket or scatch-offs. These people tend to have very similar characteristics:

-middle aged to elderly
-also buying a pack of cigarettes
-also buying a 6 pack of beer
-looks like they have not showered in a few weeks
-looks like they have not shaved in a few weeks
-grumpy attitude
-extremely skinny or extremely overweight
-looks unhealthy
-may be missing a few teeth/poor dental hygiene

The only criteria I meet is being elderly.
I don't smoke
Rarely, do I drink beer
I shower often
My beard is trimmed daily
It is unusual for me to be grumpy
Neither am I skinny nor am I overweight
I look very healthy
There are 30 of my own pearly white teeth in my mouth (two were removed for orthodontic reasons when I was a kid).

[Teutonic Knight]

Truly $1 to win.  With odds of 1/175 million, spending 1 dollar or even $1000 on tickets won't affect the odds.

Try Spanish 1 Billion Euros lottery, $ 2000 per ticket 

Google 4 info, I think it's call 'El Gordo '  ?.

[whitewidow]

sure odds are against you hitting the big jackpot but what are the odds you become rich if you dont play? A heck of a lot less..


The guy who won had just as much of a chance as you did so whats the problem.


For 99.9% of people the only way to EVER have ANY chance at complete financial freedom is via the lottery if you are not born into a rich family.

How did you get all that money you posted a few years ago. That looked like 100,000$ in cash to me.

[Skorp1o]

I don't play, because if I had a dream to own millions I wouldn't go about it like this.

My dreams are more structured and I have tangible plans to achieve them step by step....started out my career wearing a an Armani watch and driving a second hand Renault megane, worked my way bit by bit to reach Rolex and new Merc level, 3 holidays instead of one...etc. The dream is continuing and I keep working at it, but I set realistic dreams...I don't unfortunately have a formula yet to make 5 million pounds yet, but a lottery ticket is not my answer.

[TheGrinch]

How did you get all that money you posted a few years ago. That looked like 100,000$ in cash to me.

LOL... wasnt mine but was great to dream, take pics and use as wallpaper

[ChuckleHead]

true story of someone i knew.

she had a kid, husband dies, worked long hours in a convenience store to support herself and her kid, gets leukemia, survives that, then hits one grand a week for life.

[Mr Anabolic]

There was some story of a local boston Mass Lotto that payed low $50K but sometimes ran up to $100K or more.  Some guys figured out the odds of spending about $25K would give you an super high chance of winning.  They'd go and play all sorts of combos and almost always win.  They'd risk $25K for $100K+ and win each time.  The lotto ended up putting restrictions on how many tickets a store can sell a day to slow them down from playing every possible winning combo.
You'd think the lotto corp would have had mathematicians draw out these odds before they create these games.

That is a true story.  I imagine you need a computer program to plot out the number combinations and fill out all the play slips.  Filling out betting slips of 25,000 combinations by hand would be practically impossible.

[El Diablo Blanco]

Sad story was some broken down waitress in Vegas who on her off hour played the megabucks and won something like $20 million.  She went out and bought herself a dream sports car and crashed it that day ending up paralyzed from the waist down for life.

Vegas called her and said "The house always wins"

[ritch]

I don't play the lotto yet am always (like today) stuck in lines with old fucks who have tickets, win something, buy more, take for fukcin' ever to pay (exact change) then small talk the cashier then finally leave for the next person to do the same thing.

Drives me infuckin' sane.....

[ChuckleHead]

I don't play the lotto yet am always (like today) stuck in lines with old fucks who have tickets, win something, buy more, take for fukcin' ever to pay (exact change) then small talk the cashier then finally leave for the next person to do the same thing.

Drives me infuckin' sane.....

couldn't agree more.

[Tapeworm]

I'm glad people do.  My giant novelty check business would be in the crapper without them.

[FitnessFrenzy]

I've been playing for a long while now.  play anywhere from $1 to $20 or more a week on scratchers and the lotto.  Never win shit.  I know going in that I won't win but I still play.  That hope you get when you're drowing that God would save you but never does.  I'd estimate that if I just deposited the money I spent on tickets into a money market account I probably would easily have $100K+ dollars today at my disposal.

no, I invest in stocks and bonds.

[The Abdominal Snoman]

Lotteries are basically a tax on stupid people.

The UK national lottery for instance - odds of winning the jackpot are 14,000,000/1.

To get 3 out of the 6 numbers you will win £10 for a £1 ticket (they may have changed it since but the last time I played it the prize for 3 numbers was this).

If you were to get 3 numbers right, they would pay you back at odds of 10/1. However, the true odds of getting 3 numbers is actually 57/1, yet the lottery operators are only going to pay you 10/1 so you're getting negative expected value.

In other words, if you were to play the lottery into infinity, you would never turn a profit because the true odds exceed the potential winnings.

I've heard that many times...However there are many dreamers in the world that just like to be in the game. They know the odds are retarded(after all it's really just a form of entertainment) but in the end, all it takes is one ticket. When one of these stupid people hit a massive jackpot of over 100million, there are tons of very smart lawyers and finance people lining up trying to get a piece of the dummies pie who played the lottery...

[The Abdominal Snoman]

Truly $1 to win.  With odds of 1/175 million, spending 1 dollar or even $1000 on tickets won't affect the odds.

exactly...Just throw a buck on it and be done with it...

[The Abdominal Snoman]

Get into astral projection and lucid dreaming(not to be confused with the band Lucid Delusion) and go find your lucky numbers...At the very least, you'll have one hell of a ride...

[YngiweRhoads]

I don't play the lotto yet am always (like today) stuck in lines with old fucks who have tickets, win something, buy more, take for fukcin' ever to pay (exact change) then small talk the cashier then finally leave for the next person to do the same thing.

Drives me infuckin' sane.....

Yep. Same goes for the assholes who do their extended banking at an atm. If you're not at an atm for a deposit or withdrawal get the fuck outta my way and head to a teller.

[Primemuscle]

Yep. Same goes for the assholes who do their extended banking at an atm. If you're not at an atm for a deposit or withdrawal get the fuck outta my way and head to a teller.

We have great tellers at my bank. I go to the teller for pretty much everything. I occasionally take money out at the ATM. I do find it interesting when people like yourself act like you own the ATM and can therefore dictate to others when to and when not to use it. Some banks in Europe have no tellers, just ATM's.

[El Diablo Blanco]

Yep. Same goes for the assholes who do their extended banking at an atm. If you're not at an atm for a deposit or withdrawal get the fuck outta my way and head to a teller.

I needed some cash and was waiting at the ATM.  Some asian pulls out a card and does a transaction, puts the card in her purse, pulls out another and does a couple more, pulls out another card and the same, she's about to pull out another card and I just pushed her aside and told her to fucking do her scamming another time and did my transaction.  The whole time she was cursing me in chinese.  Why the fuck are chinese people always up to shady shit?

[Agnostic007]

That is a true story.  I imagine you need a computer program to plot out the number combinations and fill out all the play slips.  Filling out betting slips of 25,000 combinations by hand would be practically impossible.

I remember a group of people developing an LLC to do this. They would tie up lottery machines for hours with their people playing the combinations at different locations before the drawing. Texas Lottery changed the rules to limit how many tickets at a time a person could buy to break up the team. They were unable to buy all the combinations between drawings 

[Ropo]

Convicted sex predator wins $3 million lottery jackpot
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/convicted-sex-predator-wins-3-million-lottery-jackpot/30144204

Life is unfair.  Bah!

And at the same time in another thread they are arguing how good and wise God is..This prove it, there is no God 

[POB]

I've been playing for a long while now.  play anywhere from $1 to $20 or more a week on scratchers and the lotto.  Never win shit.  I know going in that I won't win but I still play.  That hope you get when you're drowing that God would save you but never does.  I'd estimate that if I just deposited the money I spent on tickets into a money market account I probably would easily have $100K+ dollars today at my disposal.

I play the the tickets press more if it's bigger 1st time I won anything more than $12 was last year hit 4 out 6 on mega had to fill the form out paid $809 or $909 lol. I buy the scratchers as gifts during the holidays for fun never seen more than $50 even asking people in the 7-11 that scratch them all the time or sell them very rarely does anyone ever win more than few hundred on scratchers and I'm sure they are in way deeper. I'm hoping they start letting you bet on football in the 7-11s. I read they're trying to curb the off shore stuff

[FermiDirac]

Lottery tickets are the dumb man's tax.
Got class mates working in the industry, seems like a real shit hole. A sector made to bleed the dumb, poor and uneducated dry of their hard earned money.