$640 MILLION: MEGA MANIA!

I think it's all about mind games... making people buy more so they have a better chance to win, thus proving to people that they could handle and keep their winnings for 5+ years.

The problem I have with those numbers is - from watching the shows - they report any decent sized lottery win as being a "lottery winner". So if you won $10,000 or $250,000 or $1,000,000 or $250,000,000 you're treated the same way. And if you think about how many more lower amount winners there are it's not too surprising that they've spent it. Also there are flaws in their research, such as the inability to know how those unnamed (those claiming in a trust or some such thing) winners are doing.

Yea, it may still be a high number of JACKPOT lottery winners that burn through their money, but I doubt it's 90% of them.

ttech10, i think you're spot on.

"you know the bubble head bleach blond comes on at 5,

she can tell bout the plane crash w/ a gleem in her eye,

ya know the boys in the news room got a runnin bet,

get the widow on the set,

we need dirty laundry"

Keep telling you, the solution to all your problems is a 1993 Plymouth Voyager in money green with 180,000 miles on it and one hubcap missing. 

No one will ever bother you if you drive that around town.

I just purchased some tickets at a mom and pop and the clerk said "It ain't gonna do you any good 'cause I have the winning ticket already".  Thinking she was kidding I said "I'm sure there will be more than one winner and I don't mind sharing".  The clerk went off the handle and yelled "I ain't gonna share with anybody, it's all mine"... with a few expletives thrown in, then turned around and walked off.   Kind of freaked me out!

Whoa... ok then.  obviously the manager/owner was not around.

I just purchased some tickets at a mom and pop and the clerk said "It ain't gonna do you any good 'cause I have the winning ticket already".  Thinking she was kidding I said "I'm sure there will be more than one winner and I don't mind sharing".  The clerk went off the handle and yelled "I ain't gonna share with anybody, it's all mine"... with a few expletives thrown in, then turned around and walked off.   Kind of freaked me out!

Loved that Don Henley song! Rings even more true today. It's all about "ratings" and "dirty laundry" gets the job done quite nicely!   

ok... so **if** its going to roll again... when do y'all suppose it would need to do so in order to escalate the feeding frenzy?

Do you really mean "roll again?"  Or do you mean have an increase in the jackpot?