The lottery fantasy: How much money do you need to say 'buzz off, world'?
By Peter McKay
We don't play the lottery very often. So I always get a little aggravated when I'm standing in line to buy Junior Mints and some clown in front of me has an inch-thick stack of lucky numbers he's going to play. But every once in a while, when the jackpot gets into ludicrously high levels, so high that it makes the 6 o'clock news, we break down and get a ticket.
And even though we don't actually play the lottery very often, my wife and I spend an inordinate amount of time pla ...
Jun 24, 2012, 8:52 am - Lottery News forum
Opinion: Powerball winners will lose big if they go public
There must be 109 million ways to ruin your life after finding out you won Powerball. But the most critical decision comes quickly, after about the fourth or fifth time you check the numbers.
To go public or not? To grip a check the size of a Charlie Sheen poster for the cameras? Or to hide your good fortune from an admiring and envious world?
We've heard from a couple who say they own the $109 million Powerball ticket sold in Abingdon last week, says Carole Everett, spokeswoman for the M ...
Sep 13, 2011, 11:49 am - Lottery News forum
Should lottery winners share with colleagues?
By Jason Marsh
If you won $19 million, would you share it with your co-workers?
That's the question seven lucky New York state employees arereportedly contemplating after claiming the huge Mega Millions lottery jackpot Thursday. For years, the so-called Albany Seven have pooled their money to buy lottery tickets together.
Now that their numbers have come up, they are in a position to share their winnings with five colleagues who had been part of the pool in the past but didn't pitch in ...
Apr 3, 2011, 7:08 am - Lottery News forum
Forbes: Tonight's $312M Mega Millions lottery is a sound investment
Editor's Note: Tonight's $312 million Mega Millions drawing takes place at 11:00 pm Eastern Time (8:00 pm Pacific Time). The winning numbers will be published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) and at Lottery Post's Lottery Results page.
Playing the lottery is a fool's errand. Everyone knows it's a losing gamble, that the house wins and that, especially as jackpots increase, the odds of winning are slightly lower than the odds of getting struck by lightning twice. (Just ask this guy.) In tonight's ...
Mar 25, 2011, 7:47 pm - Lottery News forum
Illinois Lottery privatization announcement expected Wednesday
Southtown Star Editorial
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is about to make a billion-dollar decision to which most of us haven't paid much attention. For months, consortiums and companies have been working behind the scenes to become the jackpot winner of a prize that will set an international gambling precedent.
Illinois is soon to become the first in the United States to turn over its state lottery operations to a privately owned company. How this experiment progresses undoubtedly will set preced ...
Sep 14, 2010, 8:08 am - Lottery News forum
Columnist proposes lottery for new Vikings stadium
by James Lileks, Star Tribune
A lottery for a new Vikings stadium? Sure. I'll buy a ticket. Don't know why the governor is opposed to racinos, unless it's opposition to slots. I don't play them it's like giving someone a dollar, asking him to make beeping noises for 10 seconds, then watching him put the dollar in his pocket and walk away. But if you put up a bank of Viking-themed machines, even idiots like myself might play. Sorry, we're talking about gambling: especially idiots like myself, ...
Feb 7, 2010, 6:41 am - Lottery News forum
Unemployed: Play the lottery or not?
by Dan Weiser
The Mega Millions lottery jackpot is worth an estimated $212 million. Right now, it is the largest lottery jackpot in the country, including the multi-state Powerball. In fact, it's the largest lottery jackpot in the world.
The next drawing is Tuesday night and a winning ticket will bring riches to at least one person. $212 million dollars is the stuff dreams are made of, but in these uncertain times winning would be ... well, hard to put into words.
The unemployment rate ...
Mar 2, 2009, 9:39 am - Lottery News forum
Editorial criticizes N.J. Lottery privatization proposal
Privately run lottery faces long odds
Home News Tribune
Feb. 2, 2008
Give [New Jersey] state Senate President Richard J. Codey credit for trying.
Responding to the governor's assurance that he is open to ideas for solving the state's long-term budget woes, Codey, D-Essex, floated the notion of leasing the state's lucrative lottery. The way Codey figures it, the lottery might be worth billions upfront, and it might even produce some ongoing cash for the state if it is able to negotiate ...
Feb 5, 2008, 1:27 am - Lottery News forum
Opponents of lottery say 'I told you so'
A database consultant alleges the N.C. Lottery didn't deliver the money promised
By Frank Koconis
The N.C. Education Lottery has been in operation for barely a year, and so far the state has seen little benefit from it. The promised boost in education funding is much smaller than expected, and for certain programs, nonexistent. Even worse, some of the ominous predictions of those who originally opposed the lottery appear to be coming true.
The lottery simply isn't bringing in nearly as ...
Sep 19, 2007, 1:35 pm - Lottery News forum
Tennessee Lottery players unanimous in their discontent with drawings
Reder Views: Do you have faith in the Tennessee Lottery?
Managers of the Tennessee Lottery must think those playing the lottery are either awfully naive or just plain dumb. Why? It appears to me that winners of future lotteries will no longer be just because of honest luck.
Changing the method from purely chance - that is, from air- blown pingpong balls rolling down chutes (unless they already have been cheating by adding weights to some pingpong balls) to a programmed computer approach ...
Sep 2, 2007, 9:32 am - Lottery News forum
