Mega Million

[Hksvr4]

I got one number. That is all.

[tthurman]

Did you win?

I rarely buy these, but I really thought about going to get five dollars worth before I left for Kentucky last night. I forgot, and it looks like I'm five dollars in the plus for it. I mentioned this at work, and got the "stupid tax" speech from my co-worker. Hey, if you got the means, and want to pickup some for a chance to win, albeit a slim one, what's the big deal? As long as it doesn't control your life, I don't see a problem.

[HopefulFred]

I got one number too. At least in Georgia (and probably most states), I feel comfortable knowing that the proceeds from my "stupid tax" go to support education.

Half a billion would have been sweet...

[tesseract]

I would feel foolish if I didn't buy a least one. You can't lose don't if you don't play!

[diamonddelts]

I bought twenty tickets. Got three numbers. Oh well. God bless the winners. Hopefully they will use their new found finances wisely.

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

I've never played the lottery, but disgree somewhat with the "stupid tax" label. You might spend $30 to go out to a movie an dbe entertained for a couple hours. If you spend a couple dollars on the lottery yo uprobalby spend at least a few minutes dreaming about what you would do with the money if you won. and you have the excitement of watching the numbers being drawn. That kind of entertainment might be worth $5.

I don't really get why people will onyl play when it's $600million. Are any of us rich enough that $100 million wouldn't change our lives?

[HopefulFred]

I don't really get why people will onyl play when it's $600million. Are any of us rich enough that $100 million wouldn't change our lives?

You're right that even the 12 million dollar prize would change most folk's lives, but the high jackpot changes the odds - theoretically.

The odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 175,711,536. There are that many potential combinations. So, you can guarantee you win if you play 175.7 million times. If the jackpot were $175,711,536, and you bought one of each possible ticket you would be in for $175M, and break even on the payout. (Obviously that's not exactly right because it doesn't consider the taxes or the lesser prizes that you will also win with other tickets.) If that jackpot is higher, the odds begin to shift in your favor, in a manor of speaking.

This has actually happened, I've been told. I read somewhere that a group of doctors went in on a giant jackpot, buying all the possible numbers. They won - BUT - just like in this most recent drawing, the jackpot was split. So they actually lost money on the "investment.":doh! 1: