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Mega millions lottery jackpot at $1.6 billion


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17 hours ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

I have a simple formula for when I buy a lottery ticket:

 

1) Is the payout after taxes > $100M?

2) Have I realized #1 is happening?

 

If yes, then I buy. :p

 

I've spent maybe $50 on tickets since I was 18 and it seems like money well spent, honestly. It's not as though I'd need $100M in my life, something stupid high keeps me from buying tickets all the goddamned time, since it's not like I'd kick $1M out of bed.

 

I think @legend did the math once and determined that once the payout is about $300 million, buying a ticket actually calculates to a smart investment.

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I would set up a trust fund for each of my kids, put aside like 50 million bucks to give a nice payday to my extended family and close friends, buy a big chunk of land somewhere and build the house of my dreams, start 2 companies... and iOS game development company and some sort of charitable foundation. I would hire people to do most of the day-to-day work and work as much at both as I feel like. Also, travel a lot.

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1 hour ago, monkk said:

Playing Mega Millions or Powerball is the equivalent of doubling up 26 times in a row in blackjack and deciding to let it all ride for #27. If you wouldn't do that you shouldn't play the lottery at those odds.

 

The difference of course is that in that scenario you already have a payout, where in this case the cost is low.

 

I don't advocate for playing the lottery, though! But if you do it once a year for big events like this for the brief thrill, then it's not too bad.

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I don't even walk in to a convenience store for less than $600million, and even then I don't even play every time it gets that high. 

 

I played more often when for a short while I was at  job I despised. My drive home also passed right by a lottery billboard that has the jackpot totals. 

 

Otherwise I only think about it when it gets to $800millon+. Usually just get $10 in tickets per drawing. There's always the "what if". And I feel better day dreaming about what I would do with the money if I have even the smallest of chances. 

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3 hours ago, monkk said:

Playing Mega Millions or Powerball is the equivalent of doubling up 26 times in a row in blackjack and deciding to let it all ride for #27. If you wouldn't do that you shouldn't play the lottery at those odds.

 

Where can I get in and out of a casino for $2?

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3 hours ago, Chris- said:

 

I think @legend did the math once and determined that once the payout is about $300 million, buying a ticket actually calculates to a smart investment.

 

Nah, that's wrong when you factor in taxes and the probability of a split pot (which increases a good amount as the jackpot keeps growing).  

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3 hours ago, Chris- said:

 

I think @legend did the math once and determined that once the payout is about $300 million, buying a ticket actually calculates to a smart investment.

 

I do remember making a post like that working out the odds. I don't remember the number, but to be fair, IIRC, the number was only an estimate (and assumes linear value of money, of course) because the odds aren't entirely straightforward to compute because of a variety of interesting properties about the game and the rules. However, at a certain point it's not like it's the worst idea to play!

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3 minutes ago, legend said:

 

I do remember making a post like that working out the odds. I don't remember the number, but to be fair, IIRC, the number was only an estimate (and assumes linear value of money, of course) because the odds aren't entirely straightforward to compute because of a variety of interesting properties about the game and the rules. However, at a certain point it's not like it's the worst idea to play!

 

A super naive calculation (naive because it ignores things like taxes and the possibility of split jackpots) would start with the jackpot exceeding whatever the denominator in the odds of winning is, times the cost of the ticket. So for Mega Millions, 258,890,850 times the $2 ticket --> don't play unless the jackpot is at least $517,781,700.

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21 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

A super naive calculation (naive because it ignores things like taxes and the possibility of split jackpots) would start with the jackpot exceeding whatever the denominator in the odds of winning is, times the cost of the ticket. So for Mega Millions, 258,890,850 times the $2 ticket --> don't play unless the jackpot is at least $517,781,700.

 

Yeah I think we went a little further with effect of splitting the pot, but I don't remember well enough anymore. I think that post may have been toward the beginning of D1P :p 

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19 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

The myth of the "self-made [fill-in-the-blank]" is one of the most pernicious and destructive ones in American society.

 

Agreed, that's why I put it in quotes. But even for those who that site might label as so, they're covered all the fucking time.

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I do agree that fiscal responsibility (for individuals) should be praised over buying lottery tickets, especially since such a small % of the modern population actually practices it. But being "self-made" has nothing to do with being fiscally responsible, and has everything to do with luck, connections, inherited wealth, etc. Yes of course some self-made millionaires were in fact hard-working people who had the right idea at the right time, but they are certainly in the minority compared to those who were born into wealth and connections.

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