Powerball lottery jackpot reaches $250 millionPrevious TopicNext Topic

Happy Saturday to you too, Libra !!

Thanks for the kind words.    Back at'cha !!!!!

My bank account number is *** *** *** **** .

Wonder why it didn't come out right when I typed the numbers in ?

Oh well....

Lets get ready for that drawing tonight !!!!!!!!

DD

I've got it, YES!!!  I have a super dooper asterisk decoder. All you've got to do now DD is win! Won't we be happy.  Oh Happy, Happy Day to all LP members.  This is the day!

HOLY MOSES cps10!!!  You have spent $100,000 on the Lottery in the last 10 years?  And not too much to show for it? 

Charlotte... great city... beats the HELL out of Fayettenam!

WW - I would suppose so...it's between me and about 32 other people though in our pool.

Charlotte is great....I went to UNC with a lot of natives of Fayette-NAM...haha

Don't ask why I was on the CT lottery web site, because I don't know...just surfing. Anyway, it was interesting to read in their PB section that when jackpots reach $100M they authorize high traffic retailers to enforce their own "House Rules" including selling only QPs and limiting the tickets to 100 per customer.  A winner also only has 60 days to decide how he wants to claim the prize and their 30 year graduated annuity looks like a total rip-off the way they show it, paying less than $2M for the first 4 years on a $96M jackpot.  (96M divided by 30 is 3.2) The first $3.2M check isn't issued until the 17th year!  I can understand the 100 ticket maximum, but running a card through the machine with the player's own numbers shouldn't take any more time than a quick pick if the clerk knows what he's doing, right?  That being said, here in FL I've seen many people in line who mess up cards by bending them or marking too many or too few numbers, so that would be annoying during a very busy time, but it just sounds like too much bureaucracy to me.  It reads like this:

House Rules:

• Sell Quick-Pick tickets ONLY at retailer discretion.
• Wagers will be capped at 100 tickets per customer. If desired, customers may return to the end of the line for additional purchases.

Has anyone reading this ever been told by a retailer that only QuickPicks will be sold when the jackpot grows or the store is busy?

justxploring,

Before MegaMillions came to Ohio, when ever I went to Michigan to buy BigGame tickets the truck stop just across the boarder has similar rules when ever they had long lines of people buying tickets.  I ran into a similar situation in Indiana when I bought PowerBall tickets, but the  stores usually had two lines, one for QPs and one for play slips working with one terminal.  The stores usually made up a bunch of QPs ahead when ever they expected a crowd.  I started to drive a couple of miles farther where there weren't any lines, usually the long lines were at the retailers nearest the boarders.  I think most the out of stators are wiser now because when I bought my tickets at Scott Market in New Haven last evening, I  and another player had to wait for a clerk to show up at the terminal.  I never see a line any more even when the jackpot is $250M. 

We don't have PB in NJ, it is a MM state.  However, PA is only 24 miles from my front door.  I have not seen long lines in years.  The busy places have two or three terminals.  The only time they build up is when the clerk doesn't know what do.  If it is a bad slip, the it shows the error.  ANother area I have had delays with is old machines.  Many times they have to put an additional slip behind the original in order for the machine to properly read.  I assume it is getting old and not being cleaned properly.

justxploring

They have that rule in some places in South Carolina. Especially on the border where people don't have lotteries or don't have a specific game, the lines get very long, so that is the case here as well. I haven't seen a limit on number of tix purchased, but I have seen that you must get QP's in certain instances. I go about 5 miles down the road into a town called Fort Mill where there are no lines, and I can buy as many as I please and use my lotto club's numbers with no hassle.

libra

sorry to disappoint...I wasn't able to win us the jackpot...better luck Wednesday? :)

how are you this sunny sunday?

justxploring wrote:

<< Don't ask why I was on the CT lottery web site, because I don't know...just surfing. Anyway, it was interesting to read in their PB section that when jackpots reach $100M they authorize high traffic retailers to enforce their own "House Rules" >>

I've also run across a similar reference somewhere. <sarcasm> It certainly is mighty generous of the lottery to let retailers enforce the retailer's own rules. </sarcasm> The way I read it, especially with the specific reference to a 100 ticket limit instead of just allowing a limit of the retailer's choosing, is that the lottery is "suggesting" that retailers enforce the lottery's rules. That's not authorizing, it's dictating.

Whatever they're selling, retailers always have to find a balance between accommodating the customer at the front of the line and any customers who are waiting behind that customer, but it should be the retailer's choice. The customers are always free to accept the rules or go elsewhere.  I've never seen a place with more than one terminal, and the longest line, people-wise, I've everpersonally seen is perhaps 10 people. That was at a convenince store where most of the people in the line were buying milk or bread rather than lottery tickets. The longest I've waited in line was behind some lone dimbulb that was playing 100 pick 4 numbers, written on a scrap of paper,  five minutes before the deadline.  As RJOh noted, stores that are just across the border are the ones that get extremely busy when the jackpots are huge. Besides driving a few more miles, you can often avoid the lines by shopping early. Just like people buying Christmas presents, a lot of lottery players (maybe the ones who are only playing because the jackpot is huge?) seem to wait until the afternoon of the drawing before buying their tickets. As an aside, if you've never driven from a dry county into one that sells alcohol you haven't really seen how being close to the border is good for business.

<< their 30 year graduated annuity looks like a total rip-off the way they show it, paying less than $2M for the first 4 years on a $96M jackpot.  (96M divided by 30 is 3.2) The first $3.2M check isn't issued until the 17th year! >>

You realize that's the structure for Powerball everywhere, and not just Connecticut, right? The payout schedule is structured to inflate the fictitious jackpot they're advertising. If the payouts were the same every year the annuity they could buy would have a much lower total payout. By making smaller payments in the early years there is more principal to earn interest for the future payments. If you're patient enough (and stupid enough)  Powerball could offer you a jackpot of a billion dollars with the cash they actually have for buying the annuity, and your heirs would be very glad that's how you took the prize.

Just drive a few more miles to the next exit and you may be pleasantly surprised.

For my PB tix, I can stop at the first exit ( Hardeeville, SC ) , but I go on to the Hilton Head exit, which is 3 more miles.

Why do I do it ?

Long lines, poor employee morale ( attitudes )at those stores just over the line, poor lighting if it is dark, difficult on-off ramps, etc...

Next exit = more modern stores, never a line, cheerful employees, etc...

My choice not to spend my time and money at the others.

DD

When I use to go to Michigan to get BigGames tickets, half of the people standing in line were from Michigan and they usually only bought 1-5 tickets and I was buying tickets for all my co-workers.  Those people from Michigan had to know of other places with no lines but I figured they just wanted to be part of a crowd or a hindrance to out of state players.  Some people prefer to buy tickets at retailers that sell a lot of tickets thinking their customers are more likely to win something.

"You realize that's the structure for Powerball everywhere, and not just Connecticut, right? The payout schedule is structured to inflate the fictitious jackpot they're advertising. If the payouts were the same every year the annuity they could buy would have a much lower total payout. By making smaller payments in the early years there is more principal to earn interest for the future payments. If you're patient enough (and stupid enough)  Powerball could offer you a jackpot of a billion dollars with the cash they actually have for buying the annuity, and your heirs would be very glad that's how you took the prize." ..KY Floyd

Yes, thank you. But I do understand the graduated payout they are offering. I have an life/annuities license in FL so I do know a little about them!  That's what I was trying to point out (the "fictitious jackpot" as you call it) although CASH ONLY has been on a mission since I've been on this board, so I probably didn't have to! LOL They are investing more and paying you less and trying to convince people that it is in their best "interest" (no pun intended)  But I didn't realize that the way they show it on the CT site is the same for every state. I thought the payout method was decided by the state and that some just divided the jackpot by 30, although I'd still take the lump sum. I guess I never really studied the PB rules carefully because I don't live in a PB state.

Exactly.  A Forgotten trait in some people.  It's your money, don't let people ruin the pleasure of spending it.  Go where they respect you.

cps10,

Yo CPS10... just getting back to you.  WOW WOW WOW!  I can't believe you have spent almost a HUNDRED GRAND on the lottery in your lifetime!  Do you also gamble?  I am talking about Indian reservations, Vegas, Atlantic City... etc.

By the way, are you a M/F?

Did you see my correct prediction that last night's PB would roll ??