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$590M-plus Powerball: 1 winning ticket sold in Fla

RabidAlpaca said:
People who play the lottery are mostly idiots, he's right. Instead of spending money on something you have 1 in 100 million chance of winning, you could take it down to the roulette table and have MUCH better odds. Say you took that $100 in question, put it on say, a 30:1 shot, then kept rebetting the money.

1st win: $3,000 (1 in 30 shot)
2nd win: $90,000 (1 in 900 shot)
3rd win: $2.7 million (1 in 27,000 shot)
4th win: $81 million (1 in 810,000 shot)
5th win: $218 million (1 in 24.3 mil shot)

The lottery is a tax on people who are really bad at math.
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That ignores the fact that most roulette tables have a maximum bet that is FAR less than several million dollars.

And I think that far fewer lottery players are idiots than most people assume. Oh don't get me wrong, there are plenty out there, but I think there are a lot of people who play who realize their chances of winning are miniscule, and do it because it's entertaining. As long as you understand that, it's no different than paying for any other form of entertainment.

I've gotten a lot more fun spending $2 for a powerball ticket and dreaming about what I'd do with $200 million if I won it than I've gotten out of things that cost considerably more.
 
ChuckBerry said:
They don't sell malt liquor at the grocery store.
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And when buying malt liquor, how many times have you witnessed lottery purchases in excess of $100 by someone you know is on some sort of welfare?
 
I wonder why the person hasn't stepped forward to claim his/her prize yet? Maybe hiring a lawyer and an accountant or something? Maybe even changing their name. :mrgreen:
 
The Man said:
I buy a couple of lottery tickets once or twice a year (I spend about $6 total per year on it). I don't look at it as throwing money away, I see it as donating money to 'older Pennsylvanians', as the PA Lottery commercials tell me the proceeds go to. So I'm not an idiot, I'm a philanthropist! :)

I never play Powerball or Megamillions though.
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Those are the only ones I play, and I only play when there is a big jackpot. I never buy scratch tickets though.
 
Deuce said:
And when buying malt liquor, how many times have you witnessed lottery purchases in excess of $100 by someone you know is on some sort of welfare?
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I have not personally witnessed such a scenario. I have witnessed people who appeared to be rather poor buy in excess of $20 at a time, and I am aware that the buying of lottery tickets in relatively large amounts is common occurrence in low income communities, particularly black ones.

If you think I'm lying or making things up, meh. OK.
 
ChrisL said:
I wonder why the person hasn't stepped forward to claim his/her prize yet? Maybe hiring a lawyer and an accountant or something? Maybe even changing their name. :mrgreen:
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A wise choice. Hire a tax attorney so you can know exactly how to deal with the money so you can keep as much as possible. Sketch out a plan for how much to keep, how much to donate to charity, how to handle giving money to family/friends, etc.
 
ChuckBerry said:
A wise choice. Hire a tax attorney so you can know exactly how to deal with the money so you can keep as much as possible. Sketch out a plan for how much to keep, how much to donate to charity, how to handle giving money to family/friends, etc.
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That's what I would do. I imagine it takes time to find somebody that you would trust too.

OR, maybe the person lost their ticket and that's why he/she hasn't come forward. :shock:
 
I haven't checked my tickets yet but I don't live in Fl so I am still poor.
 
molten_dragon said:
That ignores the fact that most roulette tables have a maximum bet that is FAR less than several million dollars.

And I think that far fewer lottery players are idiots than most people assume. Oh don't get me wrong, there are plenty out there, but I think there are a lot of people who play who realize their chances of winning are miniscule, and do it because it's entertaining. As long as you understand that, it's no different than paying for any other form of entertainment.

I've gotten a lot more fun spending $2 for a powerball ticket and dreaming about what I'd do with $200 million if I won it than I've gotten out of things that cost considerably more.
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Of course, but it's to prove a point. There are gambling opportunities that have better odds out there.

If people like doing it for fun, that's their choice. I like pointing out the mathematical insanity of it, that's my fun.

Not to mention the state uses it as a massive revenue source. Should tell you something.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
If people like doing it for fun, that's their choice. I like pointing out the mathematical insanity of it, that's my fun.
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I don't get what you get out of pointing that out to people who, for the most part, already understand that.

RabidAlpaca said:
Not to mention the state uses it as a massive revenue source. Should tell you something.
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It tells me that just like every other form of gambling, the odds are tilted in the house's favor. That's not news.
 
Mathematician said:
My advice is to point out all the idiots who wasted money instead of focusing your attention on the newest millionaire who became such on pure dumb luck.
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a person that buys a lottery ticket is not wasting his money anymore then a person that buys a ticket to a rock concert.

all you are doing is assigning your value judgments onto someone else. boo
 
ChuckBerry said:
I have not personally witnessed such a scenario. I have witnessed people who appeared to be rather poor buy in excess of $20 at a time, and I am aware that the buying of lottery tickets in relatively large amounts is common occurrence in low income communities, particularly black ones.

If you think I'm lying or making things up, meh. OK.
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Who cares? If someone spends their money foolishly, that's on them. It's not like they're going to get any MORE money because they spent some on the lotto.
 
I pray it's some 50 yr. old crackhead just to follow how long he or she stays alive.
 
ARealConservative said:
a person that buys a lottery ticket is not wasting his money anymore then a person that buys a ticket to a rock concert.

all you are doing is assigning your value judgments onto someone else. boo
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I'm not "assigning my values", but rather applying mathematics and logic. Someone who pays to go to a rock concert is purchasing entertainment. Since fun is a part of life, they have a goal in mind of enjoyment when they purchase the tickets and there is a reasonable expectation that it will be fulfilled when they attend. Lottery tickets, on the other hand, are purchased with the hopes of winning money. I think it's fair to say, those who play don't get much entertainment out of watching the balls pulled roll down the slope, especially when they don't match the numbers they chose. Instead, their goal when they purchased the tickets was to win money. However, the odds are terrible of their goal in this case. Pure mathematics, in particular the law of large numbers, shows that anyone repeatedly playing the lottery will go broke on the long run almost surely.
 
ChrisL said:
Who cares? If someone spends their money foolishly, that's on them. It's not like they're going to get any MORE money because they spent some on the lotto.
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(a-x)+(b-y)=(a-y)+(b-x)

There you have it. That equation proves that if someone is receiving financial assistance from the government, wasting their paycheck is equivalent to wasting the money they're given. Those who need help should be helping themselves first.
 
Mathematician said:
I'm not "assigning my values", but rather applying mathematics and logic. Someone who pays to go to a rock concert is purchasing entertainment. Since fun is a part of life, they have a goal in mind of enjoyment when they purchase the tickets and there is a reasonable expectation that it will be fulfilled when they attend. Lottery tickets, on the other hand, are purchased with the hopes of winning money. I think it's fair to say, those who play don't get much entertainment out of watching the balls pulled roll down the slope, especially when they don't match the numbers they chose. Instead, their goal when they purchased the tickets was to win money. However, the odds are terrible of their goal in this case. Pure mathematics, in particular the law of large numbers, shows that anyone repeatedly playing the lottery will go broke on the long run almost surely.
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people that purchase a lottery ticket must enjoy the thrill, or they wouldn't do it.

you are assigning your values. you don't value the enjoyment of watching the balls and hoping you picked the correct balls.

others do value it.

I don't get NASCAR. people actually pay money to watch a machine go around a track? stupid!
 
Mathematician said:
(a-x)+(b-y)=(a-y)+(b-x)

There you have it. That equation proves that if someone is receiving financial assistance from the government, wasting their paycheck is equivalent to wasting the money they're given. Those who need help should be helping themselves first.
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So, it's their problem. Again, they don't receive any more money if they spend what they're given foolishly. I agree that it's a stupid purchase when you're collecting welfare, but it has no effect on the taxpayer.
 
Mathematician doesn't think playing the lottery is entertainment, but I know plenty of people, even rich and well off people who do. Everyone's idea of entertainment is different.

In my view, buying a lottery ticket is the same thing as buying a raffle ticket for your local school/church/whatever fundraiser. You're helping their cause, and you have next to nothing odds of winning something. And a fundraiser is all that the lottery is.
 
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The Man said:
Mathematician doesn't think playing the lottery is entertainment, but I know plenty of people, even rich and well off people who do. Everyone's idea of entertainment is different.

In my view, buying a lottery ticket is the same thing as buying a raffle ticket for your local school/church/whatever fundraiser. You're helping their cause, and you have next to nothing odds of winning something. And a fundraiser is all that the lottery is.
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I can agree with him to an extent though. Welfare recipients maybe should get a card that doesn't allow them to purchase things like lottery tickets. We taxpayers are paying for them to have the necessities for survival for them and ESPECIALLY their children, not for them to play games with the money. OTH, they are the ones who will suffer for spending the money foolishly.

Of course, if they were to win, then it wasn't so foolish after all. :mrgreen:
 
ChrisL said:
I can agree with him to an extent though. Welfare recipients maybe should get a card that doesn't allow them to purchase things like lottery tickets. We taxpayers are paying for them to have the necessities for survival for them and ESPECIALLY their children, not for them to play games with the money. OTH, they are the ones who will suffer for spending the money foolishly.

Of course, if they were to win, then it wasn't so foolish after all. :mrgreen:
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I agree that there should be something in place that bans welfare and food stamp recipients from playing the lottery.
 
The Man said:
I agree that there should be something in place that bans welfare and food stamp recipients from playing the lottery.
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Tobacco and alcohol too. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for luxuries.
 
ChrisL said:
I didn't win. :(
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Neither, but I'm happy at the thought that maybe an ordinary person will be able to now to extraordinary things.

And BTW, I live in a state that doesn't have an income tax, so when I put my dollar in the grocery store vending machine, I know that I'm helping keep it that way. :mrgreen:
 
ChrisL said:
So, it's their problem. Again, they don't receive any more money if they spend what they're given foolishly. I agree that it's a stupid purchase when you're collecting welfare, but it has no effect on the taxpayer.
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Yes, it does effect the taxpayer. If they have money to waste then they don't need government assistance, hence less taxes are needed.
 
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