Click Hamilton wrote:
If the odds are 1 in 292,000,000, then what are the odds if you buy 292,000,000 tickets to win $1.5 billion?

If you buy every combo then the odds of hitting are 1:1. Assuming it's done correctly and you indeed have every combo then the risk is you may have to chop it with any other winners. BUT, I imagine you would get a larger portion than anyone else as well being that fact you have every runner up and near miss payouts as well. If that's what they do which I think they do right? I don't know how many numbers there are but figure if you have every combo that means you would also be cashing out on every 5 number combo w/o the powerball, all the 4 number combos w/o powerball and basically EVERY single prize along the way. Unless of course they have restrictions.

On top of that, again I don't know how it works. Say someone does purchase all combos (just saw it's $2 a ticket) so does that mean the $584m gets thrown back into the prize payout? Bumping the winning up over 2 Billion? Or does only a certain amount go into the prize pool?

To lower the risk with the split it would be a nice investment for 5-10 Million-Billionaires to pool up.

It's pretty easy to calculate my odds of winning...

Click Hamilton wrote:
No matter who eventually wins, the tax collector and organizations that run the various lottos always win. 100% guaranteed., and in huge numbers.

And all that lump sum vs payments stuff is BS too. They get everything up-front when you buy a ticket, cash on the barrel head, in advance of the draw.

For the alleged "$1.5 billion" pot, I wonder how much were the total ticket sales leading up to that point of drawing a winner?

Filthy lucre.

It's basically a massive suck of revenue for the government from poor people who they otherwise don't get much money from.

Suckers.

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I think I better go buy a few more tickets before the cutoff 59 minutes before the draw tonight.

I agree. It's unseemly for government to run a numbers game.

At least we can't blame any of our current national leaders, actual or hopeful. The Multi-State Lottery Association was formed in 1987, and lotteries are run by the states.

Click Hamilton wrote:
If the odds are 1 in 292,000,000, then what are the odds if you buy 292,000,000 tickets to win $1.5 billion?

We discussed this concept this morning at breakfast.  One person said buying 292,000,000 quick picks would result in some repeated combinations and some missed combinations.  Someone else mentioned that he read that all lottery tickets have to be purchased through a retail lottery machine at an authorized location and if you are picking your own numbers, they had to be picked manually using the provided slips.  We wondered if someone would have sufficient time to actually purchase all 292,000,000 combinations between the last drawing and the drawing they were working to win.

Then there was the attorney in the group who said if someone did buy all 292,000,000 combinations, the cost of those $2 tickets would be $584,000,000, which could be expensed against the amount of the winnings.

Justin wrote:
I agree. It's unseemly for government to run a numbers game.

At least we can't blame any of our current national leaders, actual or hopeful. The Multi-State Lottery Association was formed in 1987, and lotteries are run by the states.

The state governments profit from the states run gambling operations and then the federal government (and some state governments) tax the individual's winning.  The government wins on both ends.  If you lose, they keep your money...if you win, they take half your winnings.

ernst tischler wrote:
Then there was the attorney in the group who said if someone did buy all 292,000,000 combinations, the cost of those $2 tickets would be $584,000,000, which could be expensed against the amount of the winnings.

I believe that would be true. There would probably also be other deductible costs, such as the labor involved in buying and organizing all those tickets. It would be impossible to do that without a lot of help. If you could buy one ticket per second it would take 9.5 years (working 24X7). Of course each ticket needs to be the right/unique set of numbers, so there needs to be a whole system of managing the process and then organizing the tickets.

Perhaps there should be an express path for those of us who wish to play this way. Simply wire them $584 million and they send you a certificate stating that you have one of each possible set of numbers. Basically you would be betting that no one else gets a winning number.

Lightcraft Studio wrote:
Perhaps there should be an express path for those of us who wish to play this way. Simply wire them $584 million and they send you a certificate stating that you have one of each possible set of numbers. Basically you would be betting that no one else gets a winning number.

I think that would kill the game and thus there are most likely rules against bulk lottery ticket purchases.

If it were both legal and doable, it would only work once, for the first person who did it.  After that, there would always be the chance of multiple bulk purchasers and that would wipe out the potential profit.

We cannot forget the reason the lottery exists in the first place, to generate revenue for the states.  It has been greatly beneficial to the states that there was no winner last Saturday, because of the additional hundreds of millions of additional tickets purchased since then for tonight's drawing.  It is in the best interest of the states that there is no winner and the jackpot continues to grow as large as possible...because huge jackpots sell many times more tickets than small jackpots.

ernst tischler wrote:

The state governments profit from the states run gambling operations and then the federal government (and some state governments) tax the individual's winning.  The government wins on both ends.  If you lose, they keep your money...if you win, they take half your winnings.

Up here there is no tax on lottery or casino winnings  (whether or not they are government run). There are exceptions for so-called professional gamblers -- people who derive regular income from gambling.  On the upside they can expense their losses (but not exceeding the amount of their winnings).

Lightcraft Studio wrote:

I believe that would be true. There would probably also be other deductible costs, such as the labor involved in buying and organizing all those tickets. It would be impossible to do that without a lot of help. If you could buy one ticket per second it would take 9.5 years (working 24X7). Of course each ticket needs to be the right/unique set of numbers, so there needs to be a whole system of managing the process and then organizing the tickets.

Perhaps there should be an express path for those of us who wish to play this way. Simply wire them $584 million and they send you a certificate stating that you have one of each possible set of numbers. Basically you would be betting that no one else gets a winning number.

I imagine anyone with the funds to consider that can easily have an algorithm written for them to cover and take care of the numbers process. I'm sure then can even have a scan-tron type printer even bubble out each combo on the tickets....but yeah other than that I would be A LOT of time actually getting physical copies printed out for all those combos.

How many combos can be played at once and how long does it take to feed it to the machine? I googled an image and it looks like sheet you fill your numbers out on has 5 possible playings. I agree with you that it would be impossible to do without a ton of help.

Keith NYC wrote:
I agree with you that it would be impossible to do without a ton of help.

uh, i'd get on the phone with jerry brown, and tell him i'm buying out the lot of combinations, and paying with an instant bank transfer. i'm sure he'd find a way to green light that one. if he didn't take the call, i'd go right to the head of the lausd.

money talks, etc.

Evan Hiltunen wrote:
Let's say someone is able to actually buy all the number combinations and no one else gets a winning ticket.

If they live in a state that doesn't tax lottery winnings, they are still out 20 plus million dollars (if they take the cash payout and they get plooked by the fedgov). Now, if they live in a state that taxes lottery winnings they are really screwed.

The math is easy if anyone wants to do it.

only a fool would take the lump sum, for myriad reasons.

GK photo wrote:

uh, i'd get on the phone with jerry brown, and tell him i'm buying out the lot of combinations, and paying with an instant bank transfer. i'm sure he'd find a way to green light that one. if he didn't take the call, i'd go right to the head of the lausd.

money talks, etc.


only a fool would take the lump sum.

Money does talk, which is the only reason it would be feasible that someone could do that.

In another thought, aren't losses tax deductible? Hmm, I wonder how much money of a write up you can get with half a billion dollars worth of losing tickets.

Robb Mann wrote:
If I win I'm buying Legos. ALL the Legos.

funny. if i win, the only extravagance i'd buy is the nicest 1958 through 1960 les paul standard i could find. even if i have to overpay. everyone has a price.

i think i may have bought maybe ten lottery tickets my whole life. and that's usually when it's some exorbitant amount, like tonight. not a very sound financial plan. i know people who plunk down hundreds (if not more) on lottery tickets every year. what a waste. if they just tossed that pittance into some kind of investment vehicle, they'd actually "win" something.

whatever...it's the lure. i get it.

Justin wrote:
I agree. It's unseemly for government to run a numbers game.

At least we can't blame any of our current national leaders, actual or hopeful. The Multi-State Lottery Association was formed in 1987, and lotteries are run by the states.

ernst tischler wrote:
The state governments profit from the states run gambling operations and then the federal government (and some state governments) tax the individual's winning.  The government wins on both ends.  If you lose, they keep your money...if you win, they take half your winnings.

Yup. The game would make a Mafia numbers runner wince.

Justin wrote:
Yup. The game would make a Mafia numbers runner wince.

It's the government. All government lies, scams and deception is legal.

It's the law.

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

It's [mumble, mumble] social justice (or some other glittering generality.)

Besides, they "need," want and demand more money, every fiscal year to hire more people who do nothing. Every portion of the year. Every month. Every day. That's just the way it is.

So it's OK. It's for The People. We are the people. We are The Government. The Government is Us. Right?

Besides, you too can win $1.5 billion dollars and become a 1%'er like everyone else, so smile, laugh and cough up.

PS, in most states your identity for winning becomes public domain. Good luck with that. If I won in CA, I would probably try a double trust and a few shell corporations, some of which are offshore, but that would probably be construed as criminal activity.

It's probably better to lose and remain anonymous. If it's better to lose then it's better not to buy tickets in the first place.

Right?

Click Hamilton wrote:
If it's government gambling, there's no competition. So of course the odds are going to be less or totally lousy. Other competing gambling is basically illegal, unless you have a loophole with an Indian reservation, or a couple of states that allow organized crime from the private sector to help with elections. It's like prohibition unless you buy your booze from the government, then it's OK.

I agree on the gambling aspect. It's not honorable. But I can't take the gambling color and paint it over the whole government operation.

There are some states, I'm sure, that have socialized (i.e., government-run) alcohol distribution. I presume that's to regulate an inherently questionable substance that will get distributed anyway. I'm not in one of those states, so I can't comment.

DOUGLASFOTOS wrote:
IT Started off Excellent..

08...Was the first numbers on my 1.5 Billion Ticket...Then It went downhill from there.

no bil for you. i'm too lazy to check my ticket. i'll just scan it tomorrow morning, while getting my iced tea before hitting the road.

TerrysPhotocountry wrote:
I know what company would get some of my money if I win the super Lotto. B&H 

They already get a lot of my money!

GK photo wrote:
looks like one butt head won it. from chino hills, too.

dammit, back to work i go.

At least one wiener was from California this time. That gives us hope for the future. Two other winning numbers drawn in TN and FL.

If the other two winning tickets don't eventually show up, does he get the whole pot, or is he necessarily cut down to 1/3 so the other 2/3 can be siphoned off by the lotto organizers?

If I suddenly won a sizable and unexpected amount of money, I would immediately start shopping for the right lawyer and plunge myself into a self-directed crash course in trusts, double trusts, shell companies, how to take possession through third entities, anonymity, personal security, protection from identity theft, and lots of other topics that would probably blossom in front of me. A first thought would be to immediately rent an apartment through an agent and establish an address, a new phone number, and new ISP's in another state. Las Vegas, Nevada pops to mind with mild curiosity because of gambling laws, corporation & estate laws, and proximity. Oregon has no sales tax and I've enjoyed visiting the Portland area for a lifetime. When the weather is good I also enjoy my trips to Vancouver. I would need to consult about taxes, privacy and other issues before making these determinations. Because my tickets were bought in CA, they have probably already nailed down the sales tax issue, but it's certainly worth investigating for loopholes of residency.

---

I doubled my money .... from $2 to $4 because I got the #10 red ball.

I like the percentage return and fast turnover as a return on investment, but the MB Sprinter will have to wait.

Click Hamilton wrote:

At least one wiener was from California this time. That gives us hope for the future. Two other winning numbers drawn in TN and FL.

If the other two winning tickets don't eventually show up, does he get the whole pot, or is he necessarily cut down to 1/3 so the other 2/3 can be siphoned off by the lotto organizers?

the prize pool is divvied up regardless of if they turn up to collect, unclaimed shares just help in trust  indefinitely or a legally required amount of time.

The cali winner bout 15,000  tickets ($30k worth), i'd say he did materially increase his chances by buying more than one, i don't really think buying one ticket materially increases your chance from buying no tickets though!

it'd be great if some of these massive prize pools fell into the hands of people with really good intentions and the ability to execute. That much money could go a long way to curing cancer or dramatically improving clean energy tech if used properly. With that much money I'd also set up a trust to transform the music and arts school at out local university into a world leading institution. Arts are so neglected these days.

Jirrupin wrote:
it'd be great if some of these massive prize pools fell into the hands of people with really good intentions and the ability to execute. That much money could go a long way to curing cancer or dramatically improving clean energy tech if used properly. With that much money I'd also set up a trust to transform the music and arts school at out local university into a world leading institution. Arts are so neglected these days.

My $2 ticket paid out $4. I took my winning ticket back to the corner store for redemption.

I blew both the profit and the the original corpus of my investment on two ice cold Foster Lagers, on sale for $1.99 each.

I guess that means I ate (drank) the seeds for next year's crop?

Click Hamilton wrote:
PS, in most states your identity for winning becomes public domain. Good luck with that. If I won in CA, I would probably try a double trust and a few shell corporations, some of which are offshore, but that would probably be construed as criminal activity.
It's probably better to lose and remain anonymous. If it's better to lose then it's better not to buy tickets in the first place.
Right?

I don't buy tickets in order to keep my profile low. I can't imagine how many people would show up in my life when I win. *shudders*

Click Hamilton wrote:

My $2 ticket paid out $4. I took my winning ticket back to the corner store for redemption.

I blew both the profit and the the original corpus of my investment on two ice cold Foster Lagers, on sale for $1.99 each.

I guess that means I ate (drank) the seeds for next year's crop?

I won $4 too!
I put it back into the bank where I will make a hefty 0.1%.
Yeah baby.