$1B Lottery

[gerntz]

Was strange to walk into convenience market & see that number, that's all, on the lottery screen. Just wow.

 

[braumeister]

Had me going for a while. I thought I had stumbled into the "Share your FIRE Milestones" thread.

 

[splitwdw]

I thought it was a "can I retire" thread.

 

[Fairfax2018]

Haha! I actually bought $20 worth of tickets today- $10 for me and $10 for my spouse. We’ve already gotten $20 worth of fun from the dreaming and talking about “what if’s”

 

[audreyh1]

I thought someone here was aspiring to retire with $1B! Maybe they are!

 

[REWahoo]

We’ve already gotten $20 worth of fun from the dreaming and talking about “what if’s”

I suspect winning would likely turn out to be the nightmare version of a dream.

 

[OldShooter]

When our state lottery went live with the PowerBall the local public radio station aired an interview with a UC Berkeley statistics professor. What he said was: "Well, your chances of winning are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not."

 

[Dtail]

I thought it was a "can I retire" thread.

Very good
you know there would still be some back and forth opinions.

 

[W2R]

Had me going for a while. I thought I had stumbled into the "Share your FIRE Milestones" thread.

+1

That's what I thought, too! When I first read the title it was just "$1B", or that is what I thought it was. At that point I thought, "Gee, I didn't know that Gerntz was THAT well off, who knew?"

 

[RunningBum]

Had me going for a while. I thought I had stumbled into the "Share your FIRE Milestones" thread.

Thank you to you or whoever made the title clear.

I suppose with more people playing, the chances are greater that the prize will be split, but I absolutely would not want the burden of $1B. And please don't anyone chime in with "you can share it with me if you don't want it all." That gets real old, never was funny, and I'm just not going to enter.

 

[REWahoo]

... I'm just not going to enter.

According to this guy, that won't really matter:

...the local public radio station aired an interview with a UC Berkeley statistics professor. What he said was: "Well, your chances of winning are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not."

 

[scrabbler1]

When our state lottery went live with the PowerBall the local public radio station aired an interview with a UC Berkeley statistics professor. What he said was: "Well, your chances of winning are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not."

That's what I tell people, too. What I find mildly annoying are all those local news stories where they interview lottery ticket buyers (i.e. suckers) and ask them what they would d if they win, when in reality all that will happen is they will be poorer by the amount they spent on the tickets.

 

[MRG]

Haha! I actually bought $20 worth of tickets today- $10 for me and $10 for my spouse. We’ve already gotten $20 worth of fun from the dreaming and talking about “what if’s”

I planned on blowing $20, they only took cash. I had $12, now 6 tickets.

I hope whoever wins does it wisely.

 

[W2R]

That's what I tell people, too. What I find mildly annoying are all those local news stories where they interview lottery ticket buyers (i.e. suckers) and ask them what they would d if they win, when in reality all that will happen is they will be poorer by the amount they spent on the tickets.

+1

IIRC I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life because I think that is not a very wise way to spend my money. I wouldn't even know how to do it.

"Uh, 'scuse me, Mr. Convenience Store Clerk... uh.... I guess I wanna buy a lottery ticket or somethin', so, er... um... well ok, uh... how's that done?"

 

[Sunset]

I planned on blowing $20, they only took cash. I had $12, now 6 tickets.

I hope whoever wins does it wisely.

I used a credit card, bought them online, no need to go to the store.

 

[StephieJean]

Haha! I actually bought $20 worth of tickets today- $10 for me and $10 for my spouse. We’ve already gotten $20 worth of fun from the dreaming and talking about “what if’s”

Agreed, DW and I just bought $14 worth for Friday's and Saturday's game. Fun to dream together.

 

[Sunset]

When our state lottery went live with the PowerBall the local public radio station aired an interview with a UC Berkeley statistics professor. What he said was: "Well, your chances of winning are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not."

hmmmm...... strange but I never heard of anyone winning that didn't buy a ticket.

Your chances may be about the same, but you only can win if you buy.

 

[griffithee]

I wonder if Nassim Taleb buys a ticket. This could be considered a Very Very Black Swan event.

 

[Sunset]

Agreed, DW and I just bought $14 worth for Friday's and Saturday's game. Fun to dream together.

I spent $6, only needed 1 winning ticket, but online you have to spend minimum of $5
Guess I don't dream as much as you

 

[dtbach]

When our state lottery went live with the PowerBall the local public radio station aired an interview with a UC Berkeley statistics professor. What he said was: "Well, your chances of winning are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not."

Try to think of yourself as a philanthropist when you buy one of these tickets.

 

[Walt34]

IIRC I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life because I think that is not a very wise way to spend my money. I wouldn't even know how to do it.

We do occasionally buy one or two, maybe three times a year. It's a few days of daydreams. No one would be more astonished than me if one actually won.

Sort of like seeing a dog chasing after a car, the car stops, and the dog stands there thinking "Uh, what do I do now?"

 

[MRG]

I used a credit card, bought them online, no need to go to the store.

Thanks!

Tells you how often I buy tickets. [emoji23]

 

[HMMY]

Sadly, I read somewhere that for many people, their retirement plan is to win the lottery. I'm already retired, but I did spend $20 on tickets. It was cheap Friday night entertainment.

 

[imoldernu]

Non-investor here... At least today, I know who my real friends are.

The very last thing in the world that I would wish for is to win millions of dollars. I like my life... just the way it is.

 

[Souschef]

Haha! I actually bought $20 worth of tickets today- $10 for me and $10 for my spouse. We’ve already gotten $20 worth of fun from the dreaming and talking about “what if’s”

Me too. I bought $20 powerball and $20 megamillions