The Lottery!

wbarnhill

wbarnhill

Final Approach
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You never realize how difficult it is to win the lottery until you write a computer program to calculate how many drawings you'd have to run through in order to win.

Kinda funny because the program crashed on the first run after running all night because it reached the limit of unsigned long. Heh.

So... does anyone play? ;)
 
wbarnhill said:
You never realize how difficult it is to win the lottery until you write a computer program to calculate how many drawings you'd have to run through in order to win.

Kinda funny because the program crashed on the first run after running all night because it reached the limit of unsigned long. Heh.

So... does anyone play? ;)
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I consistantly "win" the price of a ticket each time I'm in the supermarket by not buying one. It's added up to quite a bit.
 
wbarnhill said:
You never realize how difficult it is to win the lottery until you write a computer program to calculate how many drawings you'd have to run through in order to win....

So... does anyone play? ;)
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"Of course the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you–if you don’t play, you can’t win." - Robert Heinlein

Yes, on occasion.
 
ONly when it gets to be over 100 million bucks. Anything less than that just isn't worth my time.
 
EdFred said:
ONly when it gets to be over 100 million bucks. Anything less than that just isn't worth my time.
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My father is the same way. As soon as it hits 100 mil, he'll buy 5$ quick picks each drawing until it's won. I'm just glad that the people I know who do play are reasonable. They don't spend massive amounts and they stop when they need to. I know some people are worse off :(
 
Once in a while. I agree with others here: generally buy only once the jackpot gets over a threshhold, and don't spend more than you'll cry about if you lose - if you're wondering whether you're spending too much on tickets, you probably are....
 
When I was in grad school, PA started up their lottery (gawd, that was a long time ago). I did an expected value analysis which concluded that the payout from playing the slots in Vegas was much, much better than what the lottery payout was. Let's face it, these states glom onto lots more of the potential payout than the casinos do...

So if you really want to lose money, you'll lose it more slowly at the slots than by playing the lottery :D
 
I play occasionally when the entertainment value of thinking of what I'd do with the winnings exceeds the cost of a handful of tickets. Usually $20 million.

Regarding the odds, I illustrate it this way: To win with one ticket in the Florida Lotto, you would have to assemble the entire population of Florida and Georgia and have everyone standing shoulder to shoulder, packed as tightly as possible. Fly overhead at 5000 feet and, at some point, toss out a golf ball. Whoever catches it wins.
 
The lottery is a tax on people that are not good at math.

That being said my dad once won the grand prize for the lottery. He came home and asked my mom for a divorce. He would say afterwards that he "won a divorce in the lottery". Classy guy huh? :(
 
Ken Ibold said:
I play occasionally when the entertainment value of thinking of what I'd do with the winnings exceeds the cost of a handful of tickets. Usually $20 million.

Regarding the odds, I illustrate it this way: To win with one ticket in the Florida Lotto, you would have to assemble the entire population of Florida and Georgia and have everyone standing shoulder to shoulder, packed as tightly as possible. Fly overhead at 5000 feet and, at some point, toss out a golf ball. Whoever catches it wins.
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Must we stand next to Florida? :eek:

Since it's so often a ticket sold in a small town that wins, I always intend to buy a ticket when I make runs out of town. But then, I get in such a rush to get back to town for more work and more revenue, I entirely forget to stop and buy a ticket.

Of course, the next day it's not yet won. I like to tell myself it's because I didn't stop and buy that quick-pick so the prize is still up for grabs. :fcross:


:goofy:
 
KennyFlys said:
Must we stand next to Florida? :eek:
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Yeah, I know. The St. John's River flows North because Georgia sucks. :goofy:

The negligible risk of a $1 lottery ticket is more than offset by the infinitely increased chance of winning, compared to if I don't buy a ticket. Buying more than one ticket increases the odds of winning by such a microscopic amount that it's not worthwhile.

William, I hope you win so you can see what it's like to be in the top tax bracket. :D
 
EdFred said:
ONly when it gets to be over 100 million bucks. Anything less than that just isn't worth my time.
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Same here. However, I've won the Powerball 3 times, and I'm ahead...

I've bought 12 tickets at a buck apiece, and I've won $3, $4, and $7 for a total of $14. :goofy:
 
JohnR said:
William, I hope you win so you can see what it's like to be in the top tax bracket. :D
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I can live off the 25K or so I get after taxes currently, so I'm sure I could live off the millions I'd have left over after taxes if I won the lotto :p
 
flyersfan31 said:
But watch just how much is "left over".....:rolleyes:
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Even on 1 million:

Filing Single
Federal Tax Burden: 329,074.25
SC State Tax Burden: 69,627.00
Total Tax Burden: 398,701.25
Left Over: 601,298.75

Oh no, I could NEVER live with that small of an amount. :rolleyes:
 
$600k isn't going to last long when all your forgotten kin folk and friends from school come beating down your door :D
 
Back in 1987 I'd been married just a couple of months, still in college and dirt poor. Bought a $1 scratch-off ticket and won $1000. That was a LOT of money to me back then and helped out more than you could imagine.

I buy 3 powerball tickets and two state lotto tickets every week. I'll never miss the $5 I spend every week and it's a fair price to pay for the conversations it garners of how I'd spend it if they pulled my numbers.
 
I have heard the lottery described as a voluntary tax on stupidity. Glad it worked for someone.
 
Gerhardt said:
I buy 3 powerball tickets and two state lotto tickets every week. I'll never miss the $5 I spend every week and it's a fair price to pay for the conversations it garners of how I'd spend it if they pulled my numbers.
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Invest $1,000 at 8% and add $5 per week for the next 50 years and you get a $93,000 prize. That'd be a better route to go...
 
jesse said:
Invest $1,000 at 8% and add $5 per week for the next 50 years and you get a $93,000 prize. That'd be a better route to go...
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Lottery is kinda like going to see a movie. Unnecessary use of money, but good fantasy. And as an added benefit, with the lottery there is always that miniscule chance you'll be retiring to Isle de Muerta ...
 
Ken Ibold said:
Lottery is kinda like going to see a movie. Unnecessary use of money, but good fantasy. And as an added benefit, with the lottery there is always that miniscule chance you'll be retiring to Isle de Muerta ...
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Exactly. The trick to getting the most from the lottery is to play a very small amount. Doubling the number of tickets purchased adds nothing to the fantasy side of the equation, but doubles only the cost side. So, I play 1-2 dollars per ticket purchase maybe once or twice per month. I don't miss the 4 bucks, but the fantasy aircraft purchase is huge.
 
jesse said:
Invest $1,000 at 8% and add $5 per week for the next 50 years and you get a $93,000 prize. That'd be a better route to go...
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Yeah, but by the time I'm 92 years of age I'll probably be wishing I'd squandered more money more foolishly that I am now. At least then I'd have some wild memories!
 
Gerhardt said:
Yeah, but by the time I'm 92 years of age I'll probably be wishing I'd squandered more money more foolishly that I am now. At least then I'd have some wild memories!
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You betcha!! And besides, squandering money is FUN!!!! Crunch all you want, we'll make more!!!
 
There are a couple of religous groups that want to ban lotteries on moral grounds. It's been tough sledding, so they're now using the argument that this is a tax, and therefore ought to be banned as taxes are bad.
 
wsuffa said:
There are a couple of religous groups that want to ban lotteries on moral grounds. It's been tough sledding, so they're now using the argument that this is a tax, and therefore ought to be banned as taxes are bad.
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As it has been said, it is an "voluntary tax on the stupid." But, for some who don't miss the cash it's a fun little venture. For those who need less risk and more stability, it's the former.
 
The thing that always ****es me off is the fact that you have to pay taxes on the winnings, that the state already got half the revenues of in the first place. IMHO you'd be better off playing the numbers racket. At least the Mob only takes on cut :)

Pete
 
KennyFlys said:
As it has been said, it is an "voluntary tax on the stupid." But, for some who don't miss the cash it's a fun little venture. For those who need less risk and more stability, it's the former.
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That may be, but the nannies want to protect us from everything.
 
I always heard it said that the lottery was a tax on people that are bad at math.

I play sometimes, for fun, but thats it.
 
wsuffa said:
That may be, but the nannies want to protect us from everything.
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"left alone with big, fat Fanny....she was such a naughty nanny...you big woman, you made a bad boy out of me"

great, now that song will be in my head all day.
 
My view is you should never play if you NEED the money. Survival comes first, and throwing away your last few bucks on a long shot is NOT going to help.
 
wbarnhill said:
My view is you should never play if you NEED the money. Survival comes first, and throwing away your last few bucks on a long shot is NOT going to help.
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When I was doing courier/notary work for a mortgage company, I saw some of the most foolish stuff imaginable. Before arriving, I have already seen the HUD-1 and other documents. More often than not, I'd see a LOT of debt (mostly credit cards) they would be paying off with a refinance. Upon arrival, I'd always see a mostly run-down home, decent furniture and some high-dollar electronics and big screen TV. In the driveway, there would be a late-model luxury car.

Now that the credit cards had been paid off with the refi, I always wondered how long that would last. The odds were about as good as the lotto.

"If you do what you've always done, you're gonna get what you've always got." --Boortz
 
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