When To Play The Lottery

Reply #20

jacal5 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:56:01 GMT

There was a show on cable tv on Sunday about winning lotteries, and the show stated that quick picks win more often than picking your own numbers. I never buy multiple sets of quick pick numbers on one ticket, the numbers seem to repeat on each line too often, I always ask for single tickets. Sometimes I buy one single ticket at several different lottery retailers for the same drawing. Months back I had a premonition that a certain street in my city would have a big lottery winner, so I started

Reply #19

jacal5 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:39:36 GMT

I agree with another poster about only playing when the jackpot is high because the risk is too high for a lower reward, I'll only take a big risk with my money when it is well worth it on a bigger jackpot.

I have to run and get my Mega Millions tickets today, it hit 100 million, my starting point for ticket purchases

Reply #18

gobills — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:25:25 GMT

I know play the bigger prize for certain reasons. The first is that I am only 18 and if I win 2 Million then I still have to work and if I win the lottery I want my life to be easy I know it may sound dumb. But if I win the 100 Million I know I will never have to think about money ever again. So it just makes me know my life is set and I will never have to work again.

Reply #17

savagegoose — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:48:05 GMT

hehe 1 in 165 mill isnt hard enough, we need conspiraces as well.

the thing about QP is it will pick numbers no human would pick. us humans have BS filters in our heads, and would never pick 2 4 6 8 etc at random , a QP machin will because its a truer random than we ever will be.

my 2c.

Reply #16

sully16 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:59:59 GMT

I believe when you get an easy pick for mega millions, you get the numbers the lottery wants you to have. i tell my husband all the time pick your own numbers. Alot of the time my husband will get eps from the gas station then eps from the party store they look similar. maybe he should buy tickets all over then play whats missing. he had one ticket with the numbers 1 2 3 10 11 money ball 4 , somehow i don't see that popping out of the machine. i think the computors can be programmed to keep a st... [ More ]

Reply #15

lottocalgal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:40:02 GMT

Thats what i was saying. I have indeed seen our Fantasy Five with consecutive winners all the time because thats the nature of the game but never the Super lotto jackpot or even Mega millions. I know this seems weird but I am one of those that still don't truly trust the randomness or legitimacy of the lottery. In the few years I've played, I've seen some wierd coincedences that tells me so. And I have yet to see consecutive lottery wins. I think there is some way the officials can control the w... [ More ]

Reply #14

bomatt — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:54:33 GMT

What do you mean I doubt if California will allow two jackpots in a row ?

What can they do about it?

If someone has a winning ticket, they have to honor it.

I have seen Georgia with 3 jackpots in a row for fantasy 5.

Reply #13

lottocalgal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:36:31 GMT

I play nomatter what the size. The only time I MAY not play would be if someone had won the jackpot two days before and it goes back to the original amount. But not becuase of the small amoung but becuase I doubt if California will allow two jackpots in a row. I've seen Fantasy Five win more than two or even three times in a row but never Super Lotto. Im not sure if any state has ever allowed it. But I could be wrong. I look at Florida and texas every once in a while (not sure why) and can't rec... [ More ]

Reply #12

recoveryroad — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:16:08 GMT

If you're in a pool with 19 other people and you win and split 2 million, after taxes that's only around $65,000 a head...not including state income tax if you have one.

Reply #11

cheryl59 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:31:06 GMT

That is a good question... I have 3 pools I am in charge of on my job (powerball, and 2 Mega Pools) and it never ceases to amaze me on the the number of times people that are not in my pools, beg to play with my groups when the lotto's are HIGH... ) I would be just as happy if to win 2 million or 100 million.... go figure

Reply #10

Hermanus104 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:22:34 GMT

Before Powerball and Mega Millions, I think $4 million was a very large lottery prize. It was probably quite rare for any lottery to reach a $10 million jackpot.

Some state lottery games' jackpots actually get higher than the lowest starting jackpots of Powerball and Mega Millions. I see this happen on a regular basis with California's state lottery. California's Super Lotto Plus jackpot is currently 36.0 million, which is higher than the jackpots that Powerball and Mega Millions offer when... [ More ]

Reply #9

savagegoose — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:03:55 GMT

its a matter of how much they want to spend. i play a 6 /38 game where odds are 1 in 2,2 mill

jckpots start off t around 50k , now when ut gets jackpotted to 1 mill i bregular buy $15 a week

im not saying a $50k win isnt worth $15 a week. but weeks of losing $15 e time sure makes me prioratisae my gambling money.

i ALLAYS PUT AN ENTRY IN EVERY DRAW

even just a buck, if theres a lotto draw i play in it

Reply #8

Stack47 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:38:46 GMT

I don't think they choose to wait; they just don't play very often but will spend a buck or two when they see $100 million plus cash jackpots.

The first of the year in many states, players can play for a minimum of $12 million four days a week. Depending on how much they'll spend each drawing that could be an expensive hobby. It's going to be interesting to see how much the volume of play rises when those part-time players see when one or both jackpots are very high.

Reply #7

markp1950 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:50:22 GMT

WHY? I wonder do they think that their chances are better when the jackpot is hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh; rather than just high.

I play lighter when the jackpot is lower. And more when it is higher.

Your odds are exactly the same no matter if the jackpot is high or low.(terrible). Unless you are playing more tickets.

It just makes the gamble more worth it...

I always play SOMETHING, it might be $1 on a low jackpot and $10 on a higher jackpot.

It's all relative to the game, if Wis Badger... [ More ]

Reply #6

rdgrnr — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:57:13 GMT

Good question Sunjune. I've always wondered the same thing myself. A couple bucks for a chance at 10 mill is just as good to me as a couple bucks for 100 mill. It's all big bucks and would be life altering for sure.

When you think about the logic of waiting for a big pot it sounds like you think just a few million is chump change or something. Even when they start out at the lowest jackpot after somebody wins, the least you'll get is a few million even after taxes. How could that not be worth... [ More ]

Reply #5

RJOh — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:25:57 GMT

Those players who buy tickets when the jackpot is low aren't trying to build it us for those who only play when it gets big but are trying to win it while it's small. The fact that they couldn't beat the odds just makes it better for those who chose to wait for the jackpot to grow, they had the same choice but decided not to wait.

Reply #4

recoveryroad — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:00:11 GMT

Depends on where you live. Down here there's no state income tax so our jackpot winnings only get a federal hair cut. Winning $5mil and keeping 65% ($3,250,000) isn't too bad.

I used to be like the majority and only played when the prize pools grew extremely large. But now I'd play any jackpot game regardless of the size. If you guys had endured anywhere near as many capital losses in the stock market over the past 2 years as I have, you wouldn't really be too concerned about how much jackpot... [ More ]

Reply #3

Coin Toss — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:55:12 GMT

sunjune6,

Why is it that some people play the lottery when the jackpot isooooooooooooooh so high? When the jackpot is only a few millions thereis no interest. WHY? I wonder do they think that their chances arebetter when the jackpot is hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh; rather than just high.

Greed. Not only do they want to win the jackpot, they want others to have built it up for them.

Reply #2

ThatScaryChick — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:44:24 GMT

I play no matter the size of the jackpot. I would love to win a $20 million jackpot or a $100 million dollar one. Makes no difference. I think some people may wait till the jackpot gets high, because they figure the odds are huge to begin with so they might as well save their money for the big one.

Me, I just want to win a jackpot of any size, so I try play each drawing.

Reply #1

lottolaughs — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:29:19 GMT

I don't get it either. When you win one of those monstrosity's they take most of it in taxes anyway. You really do have to win hundreds of millions to come away with anything big.

30 million is nothing to sneeze at but I suppose (as you implied with the 100 million jackpots) that people are used to seeing jackpots that high on a regular basis so it doesn't seem anything special.

Well,none of it's really special, is it?..........unless you're the one winning it, of course! lol... [ More ]

When To Play The Lottery

sunjune6 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:19:17 GMT

Why is it that some people play the lottery when the jackpot is ooooooooooooooh so high? When the jackpot is only a few millions there is no interest. WHY? I wonder do they think that their chances are better when the jackpot is hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh; rather than just high.

I have often wondered about the logic. My wife is the same way; in that she has to play when the jackpot is over 50 millions, but she can pass it up when it is only 10 or 15 millions.

I can remember when people would lin... [ More ]