The lottery and powerball

I was talking with my brother the other day and we started wondering if the lottery was a scam. Have any of you ever met anybody that's ever won? I would be very interested in reading your thoughts on this.

A neighbor of mine quite a few years ago was part of a group at work that won something like $5 million or $10 million. They had all gone in and bought a total of about $50 worth a tickets, so they split the final jackpot. I think they each got under a million in the end, but it was still a nice chunk of change.

This wasn't a Powerball or MegaMillion, just the local Maryland State Lottery.

[edit on 8/30/2010 by LifeInDeath]

Most I have won is £50 on a scratch card, on my birthday too

I've had a few tenners on the national lottery and every so often a scratch card gives me my money back, just today I got £4 on a £2 card, so that's £2 up...

But over all I would have spent 10 times more than I have won back easily... My cousin once won a few grand on the national lottery I believe, she could of got a lot more but she shared the numbers with loads of other people.

It's not a scam really, the terms are set out nice and clear - a tax on the daft is a better way of looking at it... I will still play, maybe when I quit smoking and drinking so much I will simply divert the money into gambling, trade one vice for another! - But keep a book, so it stays under control and it literally only eats up the same money I would have spent.

My dad said he used some trick that got him some money once in a wile. It was like, each number has the same chance of falling. lets say there are 100 numbers to bet on. number 3 and 7 hit. That means next time do not bet for these numbers. It seems logical but gets you nowhere still. I am a bit disappointed in my dad lol.

reply to post by Skid Mark


I think the biggest conspiracy in the lottery is where the education monies go to. They were supposed to be designed to hire teachers and keep class sizes smaller, and fund new equipment. Now they want to cut funding for teachers. It makes no sense to me where hundreds of millions go.

A friend's neighbour from East Kilbride won a few million.

Most i've ever won was just over £100, years ago. I used to get tenners quite frequently but not for a long time now.

Make of this what you will , but I worked at a circle K quite a few years back and I witnessed the daily three number come in as 666 two times in a month. Very much against the odds I would think.

I spend no more than $5 to $10 a week on MegaMillion and Powerball (New York has both now) combined, depending on how big the jackpots are. I don't do any other gambling, and I don't have any other vices save eating too many sweets (only a social drinker, don't smoke, don't do drugs). I figure the enjoyment I get out of imagining all the things I'd do with the money should I win is worth the price of admission.

The odds of winning are astronomically small. Figure there's about a dozen big winners a year on Power Ball or Mega, each and each one has odds in the 1 in tens of millions. It's very unlikely anyone will win, which is why you've never met any who have.

I have been to shops where winning tickets have been sold for some pretty big lottery jackpots. They like to advertise this, which brings in more business from people thinking it's a lucky shop - some shops have had multiple wins because of the added business from having one winner.

Odds of a shop selling a winning ticket are much higher, of course, because for every couple thousand tickets sold, there's a single shop selling them. The shops get a bonus when a winning ticket is sold at their shop. I think it's something like 1% of the jackpot, but a 1% bonus on a $100 million jackpot is nothing to sneeze at, of course. Heck, 1% of $1 million ain't too shabby.

The fact is someone has to win it, regardless of the odds. However it was originaly created centuarys ago to help establish the Bank of England when england was effectively bankrupt, hence the stigma of a Stupid Persons Tax. Though personaly i only play the Euromillion and only if its over 50million, anything less, meh.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


You have it right friend. Here is what happened. The tax revenue that was going towards the education system was REPLACED by the lottery money. It is not like all of a sudden the amount of money was doubled, the tax money was not added to the lottery money.

The same amount of money is still in the education system. The Tax Money that used to go towards the education system in now directed towards other government things and things and things.

Originally posted by ExPostFacto
reply to post by Skid Mark

 

I think the biggest conspiracy in the lottery is where the education monies go to. They were supposed to be designed to hire teachers and keep class sizes smaller, and fund new equipment. Now they want to cut funding for teachers. It makes no sense to me where hundreds of millions go.

Agreed! I live in Florida and they show all these billboards stating how much has gone to education, yeah it's a crock. I worked in the school system and my mother does and she has for over 10 years. She was just telling me the other day how she and the other teachers bought supplies and how the classroom computers don't work and need to be fixed. She works with special needs and many times those computers are very helpful to those kids yet nothing is ever fixed. I remember when I worked there how old the stuff was. They would rather spend money planting trees along the walkways than use the money for the students and teachers like they state.

When I saw my friends kids school list I was amazed at what these parents have to buy now a days. I dont ever remember having to buy anything like they do now back when I was a kid and I am only 31.

The money from the taxes on lotto goes in the big peoples pockets not to those who really need it. This is why I refuse to buy lotto tickets. As much as I would like to win, the money isn't going where it should. I know it does nothing when it's just me but I won't give them any of my money. If I were to win how do I know that money is really going to go where they say?

My mum won enough on the British national lottery as part of a village consortium to pay off the mortgage, buy a new car, take a vacation, and give each of us kids a few thousand pounds each, and still be very comfortable in her retirement.

I know someone who won over 8 million on the UK lottery a few years back with a lucky dip ticket. Out of interest , how did the discussion go with your brother Skid Mark? How and why do you think it's a scam?
Personally I've found that I used to win the ten pound prize a lot when the lottery first started in the UK, but I haven't won a bean for years. I tend to use lucky dips as I dread the thought of being tied to certain numbers and having them come up if I've forgotten to buy a ticket, but I do get frustrated at the fact that if I buy a couple of lucky dips, I do seem to get a lot of repeats in the numbers between lines.

I won £500 on a scratchcard in January of this year and i used the money to buy this laptop that i am now busily tapping away on.

I personally know a guy who's parents won £4 million on the lottery. Their marriage broke down about a month later and they divvied up their winnings and went off with £2 million each.

His mum put 200 thousand into his bank account but i dont think it did him any good - the last i heard of him was when a mutual friend bumped into him in London as he was attending the Priory clinic rehabilitation centre.