| Author | Message | ||
     Slaughter |
I like math. 640 million bucks pay out means that approximately 1,920,000,000,000,000 tickets will have been sold. (assuming 30% payout) There are almost two quadrillion LOSERS. Your odds of being elected president are more than 6000 times HIGHER than your chances of getting a winning ticket. (and as has been shown, you can skew election odds in your favor) - based on 313,278,000 US population (of which only about HALF of which are President-electable; age/citizen/non-convict) So the odds of your getting elected president are closer to 10,000 times more likely than winning the lottery. The mechanics of human fantasy and its' abiity to be so easily manipulated never cease to amaze me. | ||
| Sifo |
At least I didn't lose! | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Your odds were MUCH higher of dieing from a bee sting. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Yebbut yebbut yebbut, you never know you might win! Lotteries, the triumph of hope over common sense. | ||
| Xl1200r |
You know, normally, I don't buy lotto tickets, ever. But, at a $640 million jackpot, I think it kind of stupid to not buy a ticket because, well, who knows. SOMEONE's got to win. Yeah, crazy odds, and my ten tickets didn't match a SINGLE number, but that's the only $10 I've used for lotto tickets in the 10 years I've been legally able to buy them. I'm okay with that. | ||
| Slaughter |
You see, for your $10 - if you had played MY LOTTO - you'd already have won $2.80 and the schools would have gotten $3. TWO QUADRILLION LOSERS... think about it. | ||
| Aesquire |
local radio show said if you drive one mile to buy a ticket your odds are better that you will die in an auto accident than win the lottery. That'd be enough to make me stay home....except most accidents happen in the home. Help! I love the people who buy 10 tickets. It really doesn't change the odds. Well, in the final analysis, If you don't play, you can't win. If you do play you won't win. There is a difference, but not to your wallet. ( except 1 in 360,000,000 times, more or less ) | ||
| Xl1200r |
I love the people who buy 10 tickets. It really doesn't change the odds. Please elaborate (keep in mind also that even partial matches win prizes). | ||
| Aesquire |
If the odds are 274 million to one ( which at one time the NY Lotto was, don't recall todays odd's ) then buying ten tickets is still so close to 274 million to one that it's essentially zip difference. 1 divided by 274 million = 3.64963503649635e-9 10 divided by 274 million = 3.64963503649635e-8 I do occasionally buy lottery tickets, just for giggles, with the attitude that it's not impossible for me to win, it's just not going to happen.  | ||
| Slaughter |
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| Badlionsfan |
The only thing I do lottery wise is $2.00 a week at work. Literally everyone gets in, and I don't wanna be the last man standing if they hit and I'm not in. Way I look at is I waste more than $100 a year on other stuff that would be considered throwing money away. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
I used to play pick4 alot a few yrs ago. Playing the last 4 numbers of my cell straight and box for 4-5 days a week. I played every payday until the last time.. which was 1 day before my gf's bday...I decided to buy her a bunch of scratch off's instead of getting my regular tickets.... DOH... of course my numbers came out straight that day! $3500.00 was the prize. I pretty much stopped playing except for mega or powerball once in a while. | ||
| Aesquire |
http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw50.html 1 in 6000 chance you die in an asteroid strike. Far better than winning the lotto. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
well... its better odds than not playing at all. It is entertainment. | ||
| Aesquire |
Oh, certainly. That's why I do it. Your dreams of a windfall seem less crazy if you have a tiny bit of hope, and the possibility of winning. It's fun to think about getting the new Cadillac CTS-V wagon to haul a trailer around to go camping. It's gambling with real stupid odds. You never hear about the many that lose at a casino, but the few winners get a photo spread in the lobby, and their pictures on the mailings. A few people, those who can count cards in Blackjack or Baccarat, or toss the dice in a careful, learned way, can win some gambling. There may actually be some skill involved. Arguably, Poker is about psychology and math almost as much as chance, and some few make a living on that. Pretty much everything else is just paying for fun. If you go to Vegas not knowing you go to pay for fun, you are ignorant or stupid. Ditto a lottery. It's fun, you pay for it, and hey! you might win! You can't win the jackpot at Reno if you never go. You can't win the lotto if you don't buy a ticket... Personally, I have more fun playing an old Battlezone game than the slots, BUT last time I played slots, on a riverboat, I made 5 cents! Excuse me while I go check to see if I'm rich, and can go to Homecoming....  | ||
| Xl1200r |
If the odds are 274 million to one ( which at one time the NY Lotto was, don't recall todays odd's ) then buying ten tickets is still so close to 274 million to one that it's essentially zip difference. 1 divided by 274 million = 3.64963503649635e-9 10 divided by 274 million = 3.64963503649635e-8 That's a difference by a factor of ten. Yeah, still beans, but still a factor of 10. I do play Balckjack once in a while, but as stated if I win, cool, if I lose it was a fun way to lose $100 that usually takes hours to do (plus free drinks, so do you realy loose?). | ||
| Xdigitalx |
I used t go to the horse races every friday and pretty much break even walking out.. it paid for my beer and pizza during the races. Another gf I had there... um.. jinxed me.. I had my trifecta all picked out .. but she needed help picking and betting so I lost my place in line to help her... of course my trifecta came out. I forget what the take home was but I know I was not in the 2.00 betting line. fun times...  | ||
| Aesquire |
Try it .000000003 and .000000003 ( same deal, just looks different. ... all mistakes in math are my own... and probably inevitable. ) Also the odds on each ticket are 274 million to 1. So, yes you have 10 chances to win, but, the odds on each ticket are the same. If you bought one ticket a week for 10 weeks.... same basic deal. http://www.durangobill.com/MegaMillionsOdds.html Now if you bought each possible number...!! Other than the issue of having the cash, it would be hard buying all those tickets in time. It's been tried, when the prize is enough larger than the odds, but never, I think, accomplished in the case of Megamillions or Powerball. | ||
| Redefine420 |
3 people won, crappy odds and all. $1 is worth the day dream. |
