Posted on 01/13/2016 7:17:01 PM PST by Kevin in California
At the time of this writing, the Powerball jackpot is up to $1.5 billion. The cash grand prize is estimated at $930 million. In a Powerball draw, five white balls are drawn from a drum with 69 balls and one red ball is drawn from a drum with 26 balls. If you match all six numbers, you win the jackpot. If you match only some of the numbers, you win a smaller fixed prize.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Strange how the numbers were coming out in 2ndary places long before the showed up on the powerball website.
Well we bought four tickets so what are our odds? LOL!
$10 spent expecting to win in stupid. $10 spent on the entertainment value (as you have done) is about the cost of a movie (without popcorn) and probably provided you better entertainment.
LOL right there with you.
I heard on the radio that at least one winning ticket was sold in California.
I won a whopping $8.
So far at least one winner. California.
12 Tickets with 5 out of 6 numbers all in CALIFORNIA
Ah, quantum mechanics.
Actually,the cat is not alive or dead until you check.
Likewise, you haven’t won or lost until you check.
I must say that I’m envious and jealous!
I got one number. I guess I should be thankful for that ;/
I squandered a record $80 to win that $8. So ten percent back. Woo hoo.
It was worth the risk. Someone had to win.
Whenever I purchase a lottery ticket, I always refer to is as paying the “stupid tax.”
I’m so tired of hearing people say that these state run lotteries are “a tax on the poor.” It’s not. It’s a tax on the stupid, or as you so aptly put it, “the mathematically challenged.”
The best example of this is that a few years back, when they added additional numbers to the “game,” changing the odds from about 1 in 174 million, to roughly 1 in 300 million. The Power Ball “people” advertised this as “More Ways to Win!” And sales went up!
And finally, when organized crime ran “numbers games,” the winners actually got the money they were promised. The “house” made plenty of money, but they didn’t take an excessive “vig.” Once the government took over (REALLY organized crime!) they rigged the game to be sure they don’t pay out what they promised, unless you’re willing to wait 3 decades for the full payout, giving the government an interest free loan. Plus, it guarantees they’ll collect the taxes.
Mark
I spent 10$ this drawing, and 10$ for the previous one.
Once the jackpot gets to that size, it’s hard to resist playing.
Can’t win if you don’t play.
Can’t win if you do play, but you definitely can’t win if you don’t.
In this case, you’re WRONG!
On average, lotteries usually return about $0.40 for every $1.00 you wager. However, when there have been no winners, and the pot keeps growing; the mathematics become more favourable to the punter. In the case of this Powerball, the odds actually favour the punter by more than a 2:1 ratio.
See, you actually did better than I did.
I often buy one ticket. I rarely buy 2 to 5 tickets. When it is huge, I have bought as many as 10 tickets. The past 2 draws I have gone all out. We are talking A BILLION DOLLARS. So, I spent some cash I had left over from Christmas going out to eat money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYUbISQ48T8
Mark
The first time I ever heard that was from David Brenner. What an incredibly funny guy he was.
Mark
Local Los Angeles news is reporting that one ticket has been sold at a Chino Hills 7-11. Big crowd, cops and news trucks on scene.
Been thinking about this as I read the headlines. There were over a billion tickets purchased, thats makes for 2 billion dollars since each ticket costs $2. The total payout is 1.5 billion. The powerball group made a half a billion dollars off of the sales over the last 4 days alone, not including the purchases made during the previous failed drawings. All day long I have been hearing the “what I would do” stories from coworkers, it came around to me and I said “I would start a lottery”, everyone gave me an odd look. My opinion, next to Unions, the lottery has to be the largest pyramid scam in history followed by the clinton foundation and glowbull warming.
My mistake, I don’t play.
Whether 1 ticket is sold or 500 million tickets the odds remain the same. The only thing that changes is there is a greater chance you share it with someone else. But odds still are 1 in 292 million and some change.
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