Power Ball - Did you win?

Probably.

I didn't buy a ticket but I think the odds are the same.
 
Me neither, but for the first time, a Powerball winning ticket was sold in Texas...
 
No,the new plane will have to wait.
 
If you see me post pics of my 2 new planes then .... no I didn't win. I just got a real nice "retirement package" from work.
 
No, and I'm really upset. I specifically asked the clerk to make sure I had the winning numbers.
 
I'm in a pool at work with 19 others and have been for 25 years. $2/week each. I've never done the math, so I'm kind of curious.

$104/year/person= 104x20x25 =.....


$52,000. Holy crap!


Still, I'll give my $2 again next week. I can't quit now since we've used most of the losing numbers. We must be on the verge of winning.
 
Gerhardt said:
I'm in a pool at work with 19 others and have been for 25 years. $2/week each. I've never done the math, so I'm kind of curious.

$104/year/person= 104x20x25 =.....


$52,000. Holy crap!


Still, I'll give my $2 again next week. I can't quit now since we've used most of the losing numbers. We must be on the verge of winning.
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They raised the price of 1 powerball ticket to $2 last year. They draw twice a week. Mega is $1 per line, also twice a week. Just 1 ticket in every drawings is $6/wk or $324 per person, per year

If the lottery wasn't run by the government Elliot Spitzer would have shut it down decades ago.
 
DJTorrente said:
If the lottery wasn't run by the government Elliot Spitzer would have shut it down decades ago.
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I've never met, even on an internet forum, anyone who agrees with my position that casinos should never have been legalized across our country.
 
Gerhardt said:
I've never met, even on an internet forum, anyone who agrees with my position that casinos should never have been legalized across our country.
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Too many negatives in that statement, what are you really attempting to say?
 
Gerhardt said:
I've never met, even on an internet forum, anyone who agrees with my position that casinos should never have been legalized across our country.
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I happen to think its a separate issue. My point is that the government-run lottery is particularly predatory of the gambler.

Do you hold your opinion because prohibition of alcohol worked so well?
 
In Texas we were told that the money would go to the school system. That's how they got it passed.

I haven't verified but based on people bitching, I don't think the money has gone to the school system. Also based on us having some of the highest property taxes in the country, I suspect not.

I feel bad for people that play the lottery. Not the guy who once in awhile gets $10 worth every now and then but the old people I see standing in line getting like $200 in tickets. I am sure they are there every week.

Meh. Not my business how people spend their money. I do feel bad for them though.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
In Texas we were told that the money would go to the school system. That's how they got it passed.

I haven't verified but based on people bitching, I don't think the money has gone to the school system. Also based on us having some of the highest property taxes in the country, I suspect not.

I feel bad for people that play the lottery. Not the guy who once in awhile gets $10 worth every now and then but the old people I see standing in line getting like $200 in tickets. I am sure they are there every week.

Meh. Not my business how people spend their money. I do feel bad for them though.
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The problem isn't that the lottery money is being diverted from the schools; it probably isn't. In most cases the real problem (or perception or a problem) is that the lottery money didn't increase the total amount spent on schools, it just shifted the source away from general tax revenue. In response to lottery revenue, general funds were diverted elsewhere by the state. So the state got a lottery, but the schools that were supposed to benefit were no better off.

The real lesson is that all money is fungible.

I agree with your assessment of where the problem lies. I wonder if its practical to cap the value of tickets any one person can buy. I know from a 'business' perspective its not at all wise, but from a social perspective it could address the problem you mention.
 
Yeah, that's how we got it passed here too. First with the lottery, then with the casinos. It was a scam that I figured out before it was ever implemented. People were told the tax revenue would go 100% to the schools. I insisted, sure, but then they'll pull the general funding by the same amount so that the schools don't see any more $. And that's exactly what happened.

Of course, here, when they voted on casinos, there was supposed to be a $500 loss limit safety net to avoid problem gamblers. What they didn't tell people was that it was $500 per "cruise" (even though they're mammoth stationary casinos) and a cruise is defined as every 2 hours. That's $12,000/day.

Fast-forward several years and money changes hands and after several times of it being voted down....it comes to another vote...tens of millions spent on advertising the advantages of getting rid of the loss limits...and sure enough, now you can lose all you want.
 
SCCutler said:
Me neither, but for the first time, a Powerball winning ticket was sold in Texas...
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And not that far from D/FW metromess.


Question for the gallery, while each of the 3 winners will get nearly 200M$, how much of that will the IRS carve out for income tax?
 
AggieMike88 said:
And not that far from D/FW metromess.


Question for the gallery, while each of the 3 winners will get nearly 200M$, how much of that will the IRS carve out for income tax?
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I think on winnings, they get close to 50%
It is a really good plan for them. The IRS always wins the lottery.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I feel bad for people that play the lottery. Not the guy who once in awhile gets $10 worth every now and then but the old people I see standing in line getting like $200 in tickets. I am sure they are there every week.
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I recall a comment from a respected financial advisor saying that the lottery "... is a tax on the poor and people who can't do math."

And I agree with how you feel for these folks. Too often I witness someone winning a bigger prize (like $20 or $50) on the scratch offs and instead of cashing out, they use the entire winnings plus a few dollars more to purchase more scratch offs.
 
I've read about several winners and how much they actually get to take home. If they take the lump-sum (vs installment plan) they win about 1/2 of the advertised amount. Of that, taxes take out around 50%. So if you won $100M and chose the lump-sum, you'd get a check for $25M. Around here, sales tax is 8% so there would go a chunk of that. Buy a big house, fancy cars, every year there goes another 2% of what you paid for those just in property taxes.

It's probably best I don't win. I couldn't afford the taxes.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Hmmm.... a possible scheme to reduce national debt?
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Total lottery revenue in the US was ~$70 billion last year. Current US public debt is $17.6 trillion. The annual deficit alone is ~$500 billion.

The gamblers, the smokers, legalize prostitution if you'd like, all the "sin tax" payers couldn't possibly hope to bail out the government.
 
DJTorrente said:
Total lottery revenue in the US was ~$70 billion last year. Current US public debt is $17.6 trillion. The annual deficit alone is ~$500 billion.

The gamblers, the smokers, legalize prostitution if you'd like, all the "sin tax" payers couldn't possibly hope to bail out the government.
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No, but we're doing our best! :D
 
DJTorrente said:
Total lottery revenue in the US was ~$70 billion last year. Current US public debt is $17.6 trillion. The annual deficit alone is ~$500 billion.

The gamblers, the smokers, legalize prostitution if you'd like, all the "sin tax" payers couldn't possibly hope to bail out the government.
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Most of the 70 billion was scratch off tickets and other lottery games that are under the taxing threshold... Those winning are claimed at the same cash register they bought the tickets at and NO taxes were collected...

Actual big winnings like Powerball and other ones probably total less then 2 billion.... 1/2 is 1 billion.. and the government spent that on debt interest in the last 2 days...:mad2::mad2::mad2:
 
Gerhardt said:
No, but we're doing our best! :D
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I had a college friend who shared my interest in scotch and the occasional recreational outing to an Indian casino that was (more or less) on the way between our college town and the metro area we both hailed from. He'd smoke at the casino as well.

He'd joke "Everybody has to have a vice... and we make up for the people who don't."
 
timwinters said:
A tax on people who are bad at math! ;)
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Tell that to all those who have won a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot. I think most people who play realize how miniscule the chances of winning are. But somebody's got to win, why not me? That's how I look at it.

As for the payout.... yes, taking the lump sum means you only get the present value of the annuity (the $500 million prize is a 25-year annuity) which at today's really low rates is about 70% I think. So, instead of $500mm, you get about $350mm. Then the taxes, you figure 40% federal (since you are obviously now in the highest tax bracket:goofy:). That's 140mm to the feds., leaves you with 210mm. If you live in a state tax state, take another 6-10% for that (NY state would be 8.82% and NY City would be another 3.75%.. that's about 12%), or $42mm.

You'd be left with a measly $170 million (more if you live in Texas or Florida, or any other no state tax state). But I think most of us can survive on that. :lol:

So the 3 winners will probably each receive about $55-65 million cash.

"A dollar and a dream".... Well now, it should be "Two dollars and a dream"
 
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Let's do a yearly nationwide lottery. One drawing a year, winner gets $500 million. All that money in ticket sales goes to paying off the debt.
 
JB1842 said:
Let's do a yearly nationwide lottery. One drawing a year, winner gets $500 million. All that money in ticket sales goes to paying off the debt.
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See my numbers above. What should we do about the other 99.6% of the debt?
 
We should all pool our money on POA and go in on lotto tickets.
All of us would have shiny new planes.
 
JB1842 said:
Stop spending. %.4 reduction is better than nothing.
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At the very least they should make the lottery winnings tax-free, like Canada. Its not as if the government hasn't already skimmed 50% of the take.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
We should all pool our money on POA and go in on lotto tickets.
All of us would have shiny new planes.
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Rather have a serviceable used one with good avionics.... then paid for AvGas, mx, and inspections for a very long time.
 
We each put in $10 at the office for kicks and giggles. We got a powerball, so we won $12. My share is $1.71.
 
DJTorrente said:
At the very least they should make the lottery winnings tax-free, like Canada. Its not as if the government hasn't already skimmed 50% of the take.
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I like that idea. If people ever stopped and really looked at how much we are taxed in this country, I think there would be a bigger push to change things.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
We should all pool our money on POA and go in on lotto tickets.
All of us would have shiny new planes.
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I'm greedy. I would want to keep it all myself. But you would all be welcome to my private airstrip for it's grand opening. Does beer help grass grow?
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
We should all pool our money on POA and go in on lotto tickets.
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Yeah, but who here is trustworthy enough to hold the money and the tickets? :confused: :dunno:

Not me. I'd leave you guys behind so fast. And you could tell my wife I left an extra $100 in my sock drawer for her. :D

My new plane would require a co-pilot. Maybe a cute blonde pilot who likes handsome rich guys with jets.
 
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