To my fellow LP membersPrevious TopicNext Topic

I'm sorry that I sound obsessive in my posts when it comes to certain issues. But I feel somebody has to complain about annuity-only lottery games (be it lifetime or over x number of years,) and, for those like myself who live or visit NY state, the terrible payout percentage in NY Lotto.

Lottery players like myself should push lotteries to offer lump-sum payouts or cash options in ALL games, and likewise a minimum 50% payout for all betting options.

I'm convinced that the lack of a cash option is why Pennsylvania Lucky ("UNlucky") for Life will be ending next month.

Your point has been made (albeit with me it was 10,000 post ago).....your obsession with the payouts have turned your comments into an infomercial that I skip almost all of the time.....you have become a troll type member looking to rag on anyone with a different point of view,,,,it is a shame because I know you can offer more.  You have a blog that you started,,,,post it there, argue your point there, use the forums for ideas and suggestions,,,,don't preach to me about the games, I know what the payouts are if I win, before I buy the ticket.......

Good Luck, hope you make it through another year! 

I completely agree.  You seem to have lost your grip on reality and have become nothing but a troll.  There is nobody here, guest or member, who has not seen your 10,000 posts about the NY Lotto and the biased comments about "unlucky" this or that.

If you ever wanted to be taken seriously again, you will take my advice and do not mention the word "unlucky" or "annuity" or "cash" or "NY Lottery" again.

You seem to have absolutely no joy in playing the lottery, so what exactly brings you here?  Do you just like to complain about things in life?

If there are things you like about the lottery, how about discussing them for a change, and stopping with the pure "statements" that are impossible to discuss?

For example, if you like playing Powerball in Connecticut, how about discussing your number-selection strategy or wheeling method, or maybe even participate in one of the great challenges in the Jackpot Games forum?

Fja,

I agree with what you are saying, but when I saw that ugly gnome calling someone else a troll, I lost it...

You gotta love this place,

Bryan  :) 

I like discussing MUSL Hot Lotto, but now realize it's of limited interest since the game no longer uses balls. But I'd still like to see more states join HL, as well as HL reverting to ball draws.

Only problem being that you are preaching to the choir.

Nearly 50,000 members are proud to call LotteryPost.com their home; technically, we now comprise an "army." Is there one among our numbers who isn't at least remotely acquainted with Cash Only's position on annuity payments?

Probably not; he was making his views very clear even before I joined up: He doesn't like annuity payments, and he believes games which don't offer a cash option are inherently unfair.

Now, you all know how much I hate posting an opinion that might be unpopular or, Heaven forbid, one that might hurt someone's feelings. If you know I hate it, then you also know I'm gonna do it anyway, so here goes:

Personally, I decline to accept CASH Only's apology, because I don't believe he owes me one. 

If he's guilty of anything, it's refusing to be silenced; we can only convict him of exercising the very small voice he has in legislating such matters.

Close your eyes for a minute (well, read this first ...) and imagine that we ALL felt that same level of passion for the same issue. Now imagine that we all felt that way at the same time.

Suddenly, our voice isn't so small, is it? (This plays a lot better if you imagine me slowly waving the American flag against a fade-out background of majestic mountains and grain fields and stuff; the music will just start automatically ...)

I applaud CASH Only's untiring efforts. He does what he can do to keep this issue alive by essentially forcing us to think about it every time we see his screen name. There is nothing written in the Sacred Scrolls (rules page) mandating that we must read Cash Only's posts. When someone sees "jim695" on the homepage, he probably assumes that I've posted yet another boring diatribe on the subject of the Hoosier Lottery. When we see "LOTTOMIKE," there's a good chance we'll have the opportunity to cast a vote. It's a form of branding, I guess; we ALL have our buttons, and we all have issues we're passionate about. 

We're running a little short on tolerance, though. Rather than criticize and attack each other for our individual views, opinions or obsessions, would it be so much more difficult to support and encourage the intelligent discussion of those concerns? Even when we disagree (it's been known to happen here), the very concept of the word, "community" demands that we have the good sense to realize and accept that certain issues are more important to our neighbor than they might be to the rest of us. If we can't accept that, then we can't truly call ourselves a "community," and we certainly wouldn't dare call ourselves an "Army;" an army is capable of achieving complete unity.

Military imagery aside, let's look at CASH Only's posts from, say, six months ago. He didn't really seem to have much to say, except for what everyone already knows. His posts from that time and previous were very succinct and pretty much devoid of any real meat. Jump ahead a few months and he finally begins to explain a few things, and supporting his arguments rather than simply and constantly defending them. I think this alone speaks volumes in support of my LP.com "community" theory. After all these years, he has finally reached a point where he feels comfortable enough to join in on some of the barbershop banter, and wonders if maybe some of us would like to know what he thinks about other topics. Now that he's beginning to come out of his shell, will we kick him back into it?

I don't post very often anymore because, quite frankly, I reached a point several months ago where I could predict with some accuracy the responses I'd read to any given topic. Besides, the forum just isn't that interesting anymore; the message boards are full of member predictions and requests for dream numbers and the like. Too many outspoken members have stopped posting, and I suspect most can be traced to the same cause (see paragraph 9).

In case my vote should matter, I say, "Keep those rants coming, CASH Only." Keep posting, and if someone doesn't want to read your opinion, well, then, I suppose they won't read it. Still, I encourage you to make comments that challenge my own opinions. I would rather see your posts than remember them, because it means you're still here - you're still one of us - you're still a member of the community you've helped to create. I like living here, but it wouldn't be the same without you. So keep 'em coming. Even if no one else reads what you have to say, I'll read it, if for no other reason than because I believe someone should. If you'll take the time and trouble to speak your mind, I offer you my promise to see that your words will find an ear. You're one of us, and I owe you that meager consideration.   

We're heading for territory none of us wants to occupy. Todd our God might own this web site, but LotteryPost.com really belongs to all of us; it's ours because we are the communal heart that beats within its heaving chest. If we don't come together now, we may soon divide into East LotteryPost.com and West LotteryPost.com. Or, if you prefer, Upper LP.com and Lower LP.com. No? Right and Left? Red and Blue? Well, then, make up your own analogy, but I'm asking you to choose one that will cause you NOT to want this to happen as much as I ... um ... don't (I think that's right).

Well, you know what I mean. At least I hope you do; not for my own sake, but for the sake of our community.

Merry Christmas, everyone ... 

Well, Yeah, I, myself tend to get hot under the collar when I think about certain issues. For example, our friendly american govt an irs. I have figured out that you can scream till ya can't scream no more and people just don't care; just so they get their beer and lazyboy chair in the evening.So, I tend to shy away from those topics that get me flustered. As far as posts that I don't like or agree with, I just IGNORE that post and go to next one. In other words, I,myself, respect the right of people to have freedom of speech. I believe in such things when it seems that our govt. is trying its damdest to take these liberties away it seems. JUst my 2 cents worth. 

Jimiam 

Two cents is plenty, Jimiam. What's important is that you've contributed something to this thread, which indicates that you have at least a passing interest in the topic. You managed to make your thoughts known and told us why you feel the way you do. And you did it without attacking anyone.

Each of us will have his or her share of bad days, but we can no longer afford to direct our anger at one another. Over the years, we've seen the membership of LotteryPost.com grow steadily, as I'm sure it will continue to do. Todd certainly deserves the lion's share of the credit for this feat but, for all he does for us, it's simply beyond his power to hold us together. That's strictly up to us.

People join our community because they read our comments in threads that capture their individual and collective interests. They join us because they want to be one of us, and we can't afford to lose sight of that observation.

We can support each other and become as strong as our collective number, or we can stake our individual claims and tear ourselves apart. 

With that, we're up to four cents now. Anyone else care to ring in?

Ongoing rants should be directed towards the NY lottery, or wherever the source is.  Ranting to members doesn't do anything except reinforce one's own opinion, which we clearly comprehend.  The problem can't be solved here on LP, so why continue with the same opinion over and over again?

Very good point. All lottery players who live in or visit NY should push for a minimum 50% payout in NY Lotto, and an end to annuity-only scratch games (including cash options on lifetime payouts.) There are 19 million alone who live in NY state, so I cannot make the NY Lottery change by myself.

As I've posted before there is a highly respected consumer advocate, Clark Howard, who holds a dim view about purchasing annuities due to heavy commissions and heavy taxation when selling them.

"May 18, 2005 -- The time to buy an annuity is NEVER!

http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/6/23/

As far as CASH Only's posts if I don't want to read them, I simply don't.  However there needs to be a voice somewhere against lotteries trending away from cash jackpots toward annuity only.  There have been pervasive opinions expressed in some of the threads about people winning multi-millions of dollars then ending up worse off than they were .... as if someone managing their money FOR THEM could have alleviated the problem. 

It has been forgotten that when someone wins a large jackpot that the money is their private property to do with as they choose ...... regardless of how we might have handled it for them, it is not our money but theirs.  As increased taxation dips into our pockets telling us the government knows better how to handle our money than us, a similar mindset seems to have taken hold regarding property rights and the enjoyment of that private property.

If a lottery winner chooses to light cigars with hundred dollar bills or anything equally ridiculous it is their money in total to live their lives with, regardless of how much ugly they create with their actions. 

It is our job to learn by their mistakes hopefully, and protect private property rights so we can own and enjoy what we accumulate.

I personally don't like annuities and have a fundamental distrust in their long-term solvency especially since the formation of the North American Union as an expansion of NAFTA would necessitate a currency conversion to the Amero.  Google it.  Another reason is that our currency has been on a decline against the Euro which may precipitate that conversion sooner than later.

konane…the annuity Clark Howard is referring to is a variable annuity, far different from the annuity that the lottery utilizes.  The variable annuity Mr. Howard refers to is a controversial investment on its own.

The lottery purchases government securities, typically zero coupon bonds from the US Treasury.  For example, for Mega Millions the lottery would purchase 25 separate bonds. The bonds mature one at a time over the next 25 years at or near the anniversary date of the winning lottery draw.  The maturity amount would be for 1/26^th of the advertised jackpot prize.  The 26^th payment is given to the winner immediately.

The controversial point of the method the lottery uses is that zero coupon bonds are very low risk with a low interest rate; therefore, these bonds do not represent what could be considered a wise investment for some.  Many people believe, and are probably right in their belief, that they could far better manage the money and grow their investment to be worth more in the end then a series of zero coupon bonds.

Yes, I know there are several different kinds of annuities and Clark Howard's reference was about those a person purchases, not what the lottery buys.

Annuity payments by lotteries are considered stable and guaranteed by many..... but payments from pension plans workers paid into were once considered stable and guaranteed also, but are now either disappearing or being negotiated downward. 

For some of us at least the carrot on a stick which annuities represent is not appealing whatsoever, especially in light of your definition of low-risk which is not the same as guaranteed.     

I do agree with you CASH, there should be at the very least an option of a lump sum cash payout.  I believe OH used to be the same way, someone correct me if I'm wrong.  Not too long ago in Ohio you had to specify at the time of the ticket purchase whether or not you wanted the "cash option", and that option was printed on the ticket.  If you didn't specify then you would be locked into an annuity if the jackpot was won.  Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong, this is just what I remember.