Cool $207 million up for grabs in lottery

Comment #12

KY Floyd — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:43:25 GMT

Of course it has a benefit. The bigger the jackpot, the bigger the sales. Most people don't know the cash value and some don't even know there's any difference at all. Anyone who doesn't play until it gets to 50, 100 or 200 million and doesn't know that the cash value is really 30, 60, or 120 million is suckered into playing for games they otherwise wouldn't be playing.

Other than being misleading, the annuity value is real. It's a guaranteed payout, regardless of what happens to interest rat... [ More ]

Comment #11

argentmann — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:27:09 GMT

I have actually done that before when it was The Big Game . I've read on the post one time that you pay to play, and if you win, its an added bonus, or something like that. So you might as well have the most fun while picking your numbers. I actually go on eBay and pick out all the cars I would like to buy, and use the last two digits of their item number to play in the lottery. Aside from the numerous mechanical pickers, I also created a random number generator in Microsoft Excel to pick number... [ More ]

Comment #10

Perfecttiming2 — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:41:12 GMT

I agree

Comment #9

rcbbuckeye — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:27:33 GMT

Hey that's nothing to laugh at. It's as good as any rng. When I lived in IN and played PB, I took pennies and put masking tape on them and numbered them and would draw them for my numbers. Obviously I never won much, but that was before I had a computer with the internet.

So....... now I keep track of numbers on excel files, research, pick the very best numbers to play and...... still lose. LOL.

Sometimes I think keeping it simple is the best way. I used LP's rng for my numbers tonight.... [ More ]

Comment #8

MaddMike51 — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:15:21 GMT

Sounds like as good of a system as I've read about lately.Me?I bought a quick pick in Illinois.

Comment #7

Lotto*Love — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:33:21 GMT

It's exciting, and nerve racking because I have a feeling it will be won by someone tonight. I'm jealous already! I know, I know...shouldn't be jealous..but I can't help it.

I'm getting my tickets tonight. I usually buy only $1....$5 if the jackpot is big. But tonight, I'm buying $10 and throwing caution to the wind.

I'm not doing the qp's tonight..though I can say only 1 line of my 10 is numbers that mean something to me. The other 9?...go ahead and laugh....I got real bored last night a... [ More ]

Comment #6

Piaceri — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:42:56 GMT

Going for the $141.3 million win! Woot!

Just so they know....I won't be consulting previous winners for financial advice....thankyouverymuch....I have my own advisors....

Comment #5

Bradly_60 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:14:00 GMT

I don't think it really has any benefit. Very few people take the annuity. And really that is just an arbitrary number. That numbers is assuming interest rates stay the same over a 26 year period. That is not going to happen. So really that number means nothing. I don't understand why people still take the annuity these days after they started giving the cash option. The cash option is the only number that should be considered.

Brad

Comment #4

Blotto — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:37:50 GMT

The higher advertised payout causes more people to play thus bringing the jackpot even higher. The advertising works for the players benefit.

Comment #3

Steven948 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:29:13 GMT

Advertising the annuity jackpot is a marketing strategy to make people think that the jackpot is really 207 rather than advertising it as it really is. The lottery is a buisness just like anyother.

Comment #2

Jill34786 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:41:03 GMT

Need some extra spending money this holiday season? would $207 million be enough?

Don't you just love the way lottery officials twist reality? First off, $207 million is the total annnuity package paid over 26 years. The cash option is $141 million of which an immediate 25% is dedicated to Federal taxes while another 10% needs to be put aside for future payments to uncle sam and lets not forget the states cut.

Using Georgia as an example, your actual lottery payout if you are the sol... [ More ]

Comment #1

DC81 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:01:03 GMT

Hmm, I think I'd rather give the winner of the 196M jackpot from Ohio a call... Oh right, I can't! I'll just have to call the law firm that claimed it for the winner.

Cool $207 million up for grabs in lottery

Lottery Post — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:52:15 GMT

Need some extra spending money this holiday season? Would $207 million be enough?

That's the jackpot for Friday night's Mega Millions drawing, if a single ticket matches all six numbers in the multi-state lottery.

The Mega Millions jackpot has been climbing steadily without a big winner since Oct. 21, when Mark Staffa of Rockmart won $42 million.

Staffa, a software engineer, said he planned to use the windfall to help his parents retire and to travel the world.

If this turns out to b... [ More ]