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Gambling: PowerBall Mania


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I hate lottos.

You can never "win" by putting your money into these kinds of things. The odds are stacked against you, and they pay out only a small proportion of the money that went into the tickets. And if you "win," you'll lose all your friends and alienate all your family.

Who wants that?

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I hate lottos.

You can never "win" by putting your money into these kinds of things. The odds are stacked against you, and they pay out only a small proportion of the money that went into the tickets. And if you "win," you'll lose all your friends and alienate all your family.

Who wants that?

If I win, I'm taking care of my family, so where's the alienation?

If I lose my friends, they weren't friends in the first place. And I'll buy new ones.

No doubt the odds are stacked against you, but within reason, what's the harm in taking your chances? What's really unfortunate is that in the current economic climate, lottery sales are way up because of the sheer desperation of people who are out of work or facing foreclosure.

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I hate lottos.

You can never "win" by putting your money into these kinds of things. The odds are stacked against you, and they pay out only a small proportion of the money that went into the tickets. And if you "win," you'll lose all your friends and alienate all your family.

Who wants that?

I have to agree. If lotteries were set up so there were say, 2500 winners of $100,000 apiece instead of one $250,000,000 winner, I'd be more likely to play them. Better odds, more winners, and not enough money to completely destroy your life as you know it sounds like a better system to me. But then, I guess they pull more money in with these large, impossible to win prizes. After all, as I've heard many times, the lotto is for people who don't understand math...

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I hate lottos.

You can never "win" by putting your money into these kinds of things. The odds are stacked against you, and they pay out only a small proportion of the money that went into the tickets. And if you "win," you'll lose all your friends and alienate all your family.

Who wants that?

If I win, I'm taking care of my family, so where's the alienation?

If I lose my friends, they weren't friends in the first place. And I'll buy new ones.

Think about it a little deeper, Dan.

No matter how much you would give to your family, it would never be enough.

The dynamics of any existing relationship would change. The innate equality which exists between friends would be upset. Your identity becomes inseparable to the money.

Again, I wouldn't want to wish that upon anybody.

Moose is right: it would be best to win a reasonable amount of money, which wouldn't be enough to disturb the dynamics.

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I agree that having multiple smaller prizes would be much more appealing. Not that I would be worried about what to do with $250 million ;) . I don't buy the tickets because it's a complete waste of money, especially to those that cannot afford dropping (but do) $5,$10, $20 or more each week. People should take into consideration how long they had to work for the money they spend on shit like lottery tickets before they flush it down the toilet.

The odds are way against you, thus the constant rollovers week after week. $50,000-$100,000 can be more than enough to change a person's life.

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Suffice it to say that I don't prescribe to the "money can't buy you happiness" theory. And I completely fail to understand why Paul views this relationship effect as somehow inevitable. I would be more than happy to find out who my friends are by winning a huge lottery payout. And if family members can't handle it either, than my estate planning just got a lot easier too.

There are already lotteries that offer $50,000-$100,000. Florida has a pick-4 that has a prize based on the number of tickets purchased. I can't begin to imagine how someone would think that a $50,000 prize would radically change someone's life. Maybe if you have no dependents and a steady income but haven't been able to save for retirement, that's an amount that would jump-start that process. Or if you have kids, you'd be able to set up their college funds and not worry about that anymore. No doubt an amount like that is a godsend, but radically changing lives? I don't think so.

That makes me remember Tug McGraw's comment about winning the lottery (not verbatim, but the gist was something like "I'd spend some of it on women and booze. The rest I'd waste.")

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I'm one of the people who may make the large prize lottery tickets appealing. I realize that the odds of winning are zero which is why I don't play these games.....unless the jackpot hits $100 million or more. Then I play. It's worth the $1 investment to me just to dream of having all that money. I find it to be a pleasurable distraction from the day to day drudge, thinking about the moment where I give notice to work.

I then think of all the 'things' I want to buy. New House, vacation house, cars, new computer, etc. I then realize that I really only need a couple mil to make me happy. I dream about how to share the wealth - open a jazz club, help the sick and poor, help my neighborhood. When I think about rubbing elbows with the rich and famous (I'm sure they'll invite me to parties once my net worth is above a certain level) and have already decided that if I win I'll never allow myself to stoop this low. I'm now allowed into their club now so if they want me they better send me an invite before the winning numbers are announced.

I just noticed your last comment Dan. I think the line is 'I spend my money on booze, whores, and weed. The rest I waste.'

Edited by Drew Peacock
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Michigan is one of the few states where you can remain anonymous if you'd like, which is a big plus, imo and avoids all the pitfalls that Paul rightfully points out. Of course, that doesn't take care of the personal pitfalls. Nobody here knows what they would do with that kind of money because none of us has that kind of money. To think it wouldn't change you is naive. For better or worse? Who's to know?

Has anyone here watched those shows about former lottery winners who ruin their lives? My wife and I have seen them and we always think "Oh those people are so stupid, that would never happen to us," but really... how do we know? That kind of money... I can't even imagine.

I'd like to think that I'd be like Drew and open up a cool jazz club that didn't even have to be even remotely profitable. Travel the world, see the places I've always wanted to see with my wife and family. Take organissimo on the road with no worries about actually making money! :) Produce CDs, my wife could paint, kids could go to the best private schools, my immediate family would be taken care of...

But then again, that would kind of spoil people, wouldn't it?

It's much more complicated than we realize at first, I think.

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Florida allows anonymity too - I didn't know that this wasn't allowed just about everywhere. Part of me thinks I'd go for the big news conference because I'd have no problems telling long-lost relatives and would be money managers to F-Off, until I change our phone numbers.

But I really don't understand how this would change my relationship with friends and close family. One of my closest friends from college has made an enormous fortune (well, its at least a very substantial one) and this hasn't changed our relationship. What's the difference if the money comes in one lucky swoop?

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Michigan is one of the few states where you can remain anonymous if you'd like, which is a big plus, imo and avoids all the pitfalls that Paul rightfully points out.

One woman in NY won and had to attend a press conference with the other winners. She wore shades, a big floppy hat and a scarf up to her nose!!!

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  • 2 years later...

Nevermind

Mega million's drawing is saturday

Over $475 extra extra extra large

It's actually Friday (Tuesdays and Fridays), and it's up to $500 million now. I think last night's drawing was the biggest one in history, God only knows what it'll get up to with everyone coming out of the woodwork now that it's hit $500MM.

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I've never played any lottery game before but I bought 4 tickets for Tuesday. Won $10, minus the original $4 purchase, resulting in a 150% on my original investment. Given my history of lottery winning I bought 4 more tickets for Friday. So now I just sit back and wait for the money to roll in...

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