Powerball at least 800 million,are you playing and how many tickets will you buy?

[pb4uski]

I bought 5. Fun to dream.

 

[FI by 2024]

I never quite understood the mass enthusiasm for JUST these big jackpots... If someone wins even a relatively 'small' lottery of $40M, their lives will be radically changed. The lottery masses don't seem to get interested at that amount, they only get excited when it's over a few hundred million. Then the ticket sales just shoot thru the roof. My feeling is if your jazzed at $800M, you should be similarly excited at $40M too.

Oh, I'd be this excited about $40M too. But I'm not really that excited about $900M, so that isn't saying much. I don't really get excited when that odds are astronomically stacked against me.



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[unclemick]

I bought one ticket at the grocery store, but I might have to throw caution to the wind and buy a second one tomorrow.

Also bought one instead of Hersey's Nuggets or a small bag of Jelly Bellys my usual drug of choice.

I hear my odds are less than 300 million to 1.

heh heh heh - what a deal!

 

[tulak]

Family sent me to the store to buy some tickets 20 min ago. We have automated machines here and never having played powerball before, I had no idea what Power Play was for. I left my phone at home, so I couldn't even look it up. So I went ahead and bought 3 tickets for $3. On the plus side, if we only match the five white ball numbers, we get two million instead of one. I'd be pretty happy with that outcome.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not played the lottery in a long time, so just looked up the odds.

Chance of getting the jackpot: 1 in 292 million

Chance of getting 5 white balls (sans Powerball): 1 in 11.7 million

Change of getting 4 white balls + Powerball: 1 in 913,129.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DH bought one quickpick ticket this afternoon. He did not spend a second $1 for the Power Play option, which would double any nonjackpot prize. Good news: the odds of winning something are 25 to 1 Powerball - How To Play Come on, $1 prize so we can tell everyone we won the Powerball!

 

[lampshade]

Chipped in $8 at w*rk for 2 different pools.

All I really want to win is $225,000. That would be a nice "attitude adjustment" amount.

 

[homestead]

I was surprised when my aging father started buying lottery tickets.
It seemed to give him some pleasure in the last 15 years of his life.
I don't think I will ever buy even one lottery ticket but then I didn't
think my dad would either.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you get just the Powerball (1 in 26 numbers) and nothing else, you will win $4, or double your money.

And if you also have two or more of the white balls, you win more. For example, if you get 2 white balls in addition to the Powerball, you'll get $7. The odds of that is 1 in 701.

So, you can see that from $4 to $7, the odds go down significantly. And the odds drop quickly like that all the way to the jackpot.

 

[Jerry1]

I've bought lottery tickets on and off for many years. I few weeks ago, I won $500 by matching 4 of the 5 regular balls and no powerball. It was interesting how exciting it was to actually see some of my numbers match. I had to do a double take just to make sure. I can't imagine what it's like to see all of the numbers or even the 5 regular balls (which would payout a million).

Anyway, I have about $20 in tickets for tonight. I imagine when I retire, I'll keep it to no more than one. After all, lightning is either going to strike or it isn't. It's fun to dream for a little while.

 

[FI by 2024]

Powerball at least 800 million,are you playing and how many tickets will you ...

I had to come back on here to post what I found. Go to www.powerball.com/pb_contact.asp and read the Powerball FAQs. Surprisingly funny. Some gems:

MY NUMBERS ARE: XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX; DID I WIN?
We can't check the numbers for a million folks a week. You can check your numbers on the website. Teach a man to fish.

HOW DO I CLAIM MY PRIZE?
...In a few places, there are "super retailers"...Look for a clerk wearing a cape and tights.

IS THERE A SECRET TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING POWERBALL?
...Swinging a live chicken above your head while wishing for the future numbers does NOT work. There is no improvement to be had by swinging a dead chicken. Although I have not tested it, swinging a bucket of extra crispy is not likely to work either.

DO POWERBALL TICKETS EXPIRE?
Yes. The Universe is decaying and nothing lasts forever.


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[twestern]

My DW asked me to buy $20 of tickets with her favorite numbers. Just pocketed the money and didn't buy the tickets. Not even worried.

 

[pb4uski]

Powerball winning numbers for 1/9/2016: 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball 13

I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers... had one.

 

[Calico]

Powerball winning numbers for 1/9/2016: 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball 13

I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers.. had one...

I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers.. had two!

Ah, well. Back to w#rk on Monday.

 

[rodi]

Powerball winning numbers for 1/9/2016: 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball 13

I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers... had one.

I did better than you - I bought 2 tickets and had 1 number. I only lost $4. I win!

 

[Fermion]

Powerball winning numbers for 1/9/2016: 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball 13

I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers... had one.

Drat, I have those numbers on my ticket but in the wrong order. Oh well. At least I can claim the $4 for getting the Powerball.

 

[tulak]

Powerball winning numbers for 1/9/2016: 32-16-19-57-34 and Powerball 13



I bought 5 tickets...30 numbers... had one.

Beat me. 3 tickets, no numbers.

I think this game is rigged.

 

[unclemick]

zero numbers on one ticket.

But my wife brought home chocolate chip mint ice cream - Eddy's Slow Churned for my consolation prize.

heh heh heh - to which I added Hersey's syrup and some peanuts.

 

[Sunset]

I never quite understood the mass enthusiasm for JUST these big jackpots... If someone wins even a relatively 'small' lottery of $40M, their lives will be radically changed. The lottery masses don't seem to get interested at that amount, they only get excited when it's over a few hundred million. Then the ticket sales just shoot thru the roof. My feeling is if your jazzed at $800M, you should be similarly excited at $40M too.

The odds are the same regardless of the jackpot size, but with 900 MM you can dream bigger than 40 MM.

 

[Sunset]

My DW asked me to buy $20 of tickets with her favorite numbers. Just pocketed the money and didn't buy the tickets. Not even worried.

You will be if the winning numbers are her favorite numbers.......

 

[skipro33]

$40M is just enough for me. $800M and I can afford to be generous with the family. Friends however, that'll take a bit more I'm afraid....

 

[Calico]

There was no winner.

Good grief, it is up to 1.3 billion now.

 

[UpAnchor]

My DW asked me to buy $20 of tickets with her favorite numbers. Just pocketed the money and didn't buy the tickets. Not even worried.

That would be the one instance I can imagine where not purchasing lottery tickets would have given me poor odds...

 

[sengsational]

For DW (and okay, me too a little bit) it's buying a few days of daydreams for entertainment for $2. Haven't you ever spent $2 or more on something just because it's fun? We are not so delusional that we think there's a snowball's chance we'll actually win anything. It is just for the entertainment value.

But still, somebody's gonna win it....

I have bought in the past, but only when hanging around people that would be talking about what they'd do if they won. Otherwise, I'd not get the entertainment of chiming-in with my ideas. Not around such people this time.

 

[W2R]

The odds are the same regardless of the jackpot size, but with 900 MM you can dream bigger than 40 MM.

I can't even come up with dreams big enough for 40 MM. Obviously no imagination!