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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI vowed never to buy a lottery ticket
However, I'm breaking my vow and will buy ONE ticket. Apparently my greed is overruling my head.
Response to FLPanhandle (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
gwheezie
(3,580 posts)With the money.
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)pintobean
(18,101 posts)I'm not bad at math. The odds are the same for a 15 million dollar jackpot as they are for a 1.3 Billion dollar jackpot. The money I spend on the lottery isn't a tax, it's entertainment. Instead of the profits going to business, they're going to the state.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)But, like you said, I'm looking at this one as entertainment.
pintobean
(18,101 posts)on cigarettes, anyway.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)or not legal
whatever.
Ala, Miss, Utah and Nev. do not have lotteries.
and I am on the Miss. side of Ala, so don't get a chance to drive over the Fla. border to buy.
Wish you much luck!
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I just bought 10 dollars worth about 45 minutes ago.
Logical
(22,457 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Iggo
(47,571 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)What the hell. I may have to amend my rule and provide an exclusion for payouts over $1 billion.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)expected value approaches, if not exceeds $2 and I'm a math prof.
mnhtnbb
(31,405 posts)before Wednesday.
If you're not in it, you can't win it! Somebody--or bodies--is going to win one of these days.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)What the hell. One time. One ticket.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,405 posts)MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,405 posts)I always put a $20 in a Salvation Army kettle every Christmas. What do I get back? Just a good feeling.
With this $20. I might get a LOT more back...either way, I figure I can't win it if I'm not in it.
BTW, I have the $20. to spare...so for me, it's just a lark.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)just saying YOU will not win. I can make that bet quite comfortably.
mrs_p
(3,014 posts)Will maybe buy one. Even a minuscule fraction of that money would go a long way.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Maybe once every couple years. It's stupid, we should play when it's "low" and the odds are better. So, yeah...we're silly.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)The odds of winning are based on the number of possible combinations, not on how much is in the pool.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)nor based on tickets sold, so it must be true that the odds are the same.
rock
(13,218 posts)You can't lose unless you buy a ticket. Or something like that.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)Ya gotta be in it to win it.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It would be nice to buy a permanent place to live as well. I'm just looking for security, not riches.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)So there is that.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)Odds: 1 in 292 Million.
Cost of ticket: $2.
After Tax Cash Option Payout required for Powerball to have a Positive Expectation Value > 1.0: $584 Million
Estimated pre-tax cash option required for a PEV > 1.0: $973 Million
Current Cash value per powerball.com: $806 Million
YMMV depending on your tax situation.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)tickets (don't think I ever have as an adult. Think I got my mom to buy a ticket or two when I was under 14).
But at the same time if I did finally break down and buy a ticket.
I wouldn't be heart broken if I won and it was split. Even among 100 people.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)My calculations say that - if I spend $208 a year on tickets that will not impact my life that much.
Yet doing so gives me a chance, not a huge chance, but a chance nonetheless. A chance for freedom, a chance for happiness.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)it the quit work lotto, but it's illegal to do so.
edgineered
(2,101 posts)A person to go away,
to leave them alone,
or even to just stop talking,
the winner will be happy to oblige
and make everyone regret their wish.
Buy a ticket just for the Schadenfreude of it.
Renew Deal
(81,877 posts)justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)Getting ahead by winning the lotto, 'cause there's hardly any other way.
mfcorey1
(11,001 posts)aikoaiko
(34,184 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)...and watching the same losers (I say that because they always lost) buy tickets, and sometimes lose hundreds on both scratchers and lottery... I'm richer for keeping my money in my pocket. I will never buy another lottery ticket. Instead, I'm going to write the Great American Novel.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)ohnoyoudidnt
(1,858 posts)but what the hell. It's only 2 bucks for a few fun thoughts.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)but it if fun to dream...
So yes, we have. If we hit it, well then I think retirement will be nice.
hunter
(38,328 posts)... or that the Shadow Government is now vetting this.
Nope. Not gonna play.