National lottery, or 3d major game?Prev Topic Next Topic

New Topic New Poll

Which would you prefer?

Nat'l game, ending MM & PB

[ 1 ]

[ 6.7% ]

Nat'l game, preserving MM & PB

[ 4 ]

[ 26.7% ]

THREE major multi-state games

[ 7 ]

[ 46.7% ]

No guess

[ 3 ]

[ 20.0% ]

Total valid votes

[ 15 ]

Discarded votes

[ 5 ]

CASH Only

United States
Member #379
June 5, 2002
11,296 Posts
Offline

Nov 16, 2006, 3:33 pm

From time to time, there has been talk of a national lottery. This subject has just been brought up again. Whether it would supplement or replace Mega Millions and Powerball is anyone's guess.
I would prefer that California, NY, and Texas break away from MM and form the country's third major lottery jackpot game. Once Florida finally approves a multi-state game, it should go with MM (even though players in south Florida would still have to travel hundreds of miles to play PB).
CCHS13

Illinois
United States
Member #46,703
September 23, 2006
3,692 Posts
Offline

Nov 17, 2006, 10:20 am

I voted for a 3rd nation wide game, I dont want to loose the Powerball or
Mega Millions but if we had a 3rd nation wide game that the players, the people
had a say so in the prize payouts that would cause most of the players to
gravitate to the new game with solid 2nd and 3rd place prize payouts. As a result
Powerball and Mega Millions would see their ticket sales decline so they would
have to get on the same page or become extinct at some point. The people should
have more power like voting

Men Lie Women Lie Numbers Dont
guesser

United States
Member #41,382
June 16, 2006
1,969 Posts
Offline

Nov 17, 2006, 1:25 pm

How about:

5) NONE OF THE ABOVE - LEAVE IT ALONE.

CCHS13 - nice dream, but it won't happen. Anything involving money that the gov't gets in on (if they did) can't be good, and the players will
NEVER be able to dictate how to divvy up the pots, are you crazy ?
If PB or MM could get into all 50 states, don't you think they would ? It's not from a lack of trying.
CCHS13

Illinois
United States
Member #46,703
September 23, 2006
3,692 Posts
Offline

Nov 17, 2006, 1:56 pm

Quote: Originally posted by guesser on Nov 17, 2006
How about:

5) NONE OF THE ABOVE - LEAVE IT ALONE.

CCHS13 - nice dream, but it won't happen. Anything involving money that the gov't gets in on (if they did) can't be good, and the players will
NEVER be able to dictate how to divvy up the pots, are you crazy ?
If PB or MM could get into all 50 states, don't you think they would ? It's not from a lack of trying.

I agree it is a dream, but at the end of the day the people, the players
still have the power, we just are not exercising it. If it wasnt for boycotting
or striking alot of things would not have gotten changed. If their ticket sales
took a dramatic decrease then something would have to give. Competition
is best for the consumer, Powerball and MM have somewhat of a monopoly
right now. They are not really competing with each other becasue they are
in different states so what they say goes.

Men Lie Women Lie Numbers Dont
johnph77

CA
United States
Member #2,987
December 10, 2003
832 Posts
Offline

Nov 17, 2006, 11:32 pm

Not entirely true. MM and PB are in competion with each other to make their game available in states without either, and, to a lesser extent, replace the other in states where one of them is currently played. Witness the competition between the two when CA decided that a multi-state lottery was legal, and the short amount of time between MM's and PB's last matrix changes. They have their eyes on each other, to be sure.

Blessed Saint Leibowitz, keep 'em dreamin' down there.....

Next week's convention for Psychics and Prognosticators has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

=^.^=
guesser

United States
Member #41,382
June 16, 2006
1,969 Posts
Offline

Nov 18, 2006, 12:46 pm

Quote: Originally posted by CCHS13 on Nov 17, 2006
I agree it is a dream, but at the end of the day the people, the players
still have the power, we just are not exercising it. If it wasnt for boycotting
or striking alot of things would not have gotten changed. If their ticket sales
took a dramatic decrease then something would have to give. Competition
is best for the consumer, Powerball and MM have somewhat of a monopoly
right now. They are not really competing with each other becasue they are
in different states so what they say goes.

I meant it's a dream if you think gov't would get involved and not screw it up.

As far as striking, boycotting, or effecting change, there' a bit of a difference between protesting nuclear facilities or toxic waste dumps as opposed to something that, in all honesty, amounts to a silly game.
I don't quite understand your thinking behind the competition thing, I rather doubt they would change to odds or the purses much to benefit us, the players. Maybe a little, but not much.

You really need to keep in mind 98% of all lottery plays are more-or-less spur-of-the-moment purchases in lieu of getting change back after buying a pack of smokes, a 12-pack, or filing up with gas, and those players don't really care too much (or even know what) the odds are.
(and I DO mean 98% - ask 100 people on the street that buy tickets what the odds are, or what the payout is, 98 won't really know)
CASH Only

United States
Member #379
June 5, 2002
11,296 Posts
Offline

Nov 20, 2006, 10:02 am

Quote: Originally posted by guesser on Nov 18, 2006
I meant it's a dream if you think gov't would get involved and not screw it up.

As far as striking, boycotting, or effecting change, there' a bit of a difference between protesting nuclear facilities or toxic waste dumps as opposed to something that, in all honesty, amounts to a silly game.
I don't quite understand your thinking behind the competition thing, I rather doubt they would change to odds or the purses much to benefit us, the players. Maybe a little, but not much.

You really need to keep in mind 98% of all lottery plays are more-or-less spur-of-the-moment purchases in lieu of getting change back after buying a pack of smokes, a 12-pack, or filing up with gas, and those players don't really care too much (or even know what) the odds are.
(and I DO mean 98% - ask 100 people on the street that buy tickets what the odds are, or what the payout is, 98 won't really know)

I live in NY state. It sure seems like 98% of NY Lotto players don't care that the payout (38%-40%) is so low. Lottery players need to use their brains BEFORE they play.
dvdiva

United States
Member #2,338
September 17, 2003
2,063 Posts
Offline

Nov 21, 2006, 1:48 pm

They need to fix that useless game known as megamillions. Unfortunely I don't think players have any power at all. In fact I don't even think the people running lotteries care what the sales are either. At least when games get privatized they will start caring instead of using their lottery job as a stepping stone to another job.
Why have three broken lotteries when we could have one or two that actually work. Euromillions now holds the top two jackpots of the world and both were set this year. That's an example of a lottery that works. It's also an example of a lottery where the ticket price isn't $1.
If the Senate and House actually want to help state lotteries they could make the winnings tax exempt like every where else in the world.
KY Floyd

NY
United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
4,772 Posts
Offline

Nov 21, 2006, 3:05 pm

Quote: Originally posted by dvdiva on Nov 21, 2006
They need to fix that useless game known as megamillions. Unfortunely I don't think players have any power at all. In fact I don't even think the people running lotteries care what the sales are either. At least when games get privatized they will start caring instead of using their lottery job as a stepping stone to another job.
Why have three broken lotteries when we could have one or two that actually work. Euromillions now holds the top two jackpots of the world and both were set this year. That's an example of a lottery that works. It's also an example of a lottery where the ticket price isn't $1.
If the Senate and House actually want to help state lotteries they could make the winnings tax exempt like every where else in the world.

Why is MM useless, and why do you think that Euromillions is a lottery that works? Euromillions having the top two prize amounts is much more a function of chance than anything else. With odds of 76 million to one and tickets that cost $2.57 we should expect them to collect $196 million for every jackpot winning ticket. Compare that to MM where the odds are 176 million to one, but tickets only cost $1. For only $2.32 you coud have Euromillions odds playing MM, and it's basically the same game except for the tax issues. Of course the tax issues are also the same if you're a US resident or citizen, because you'd pay taxes on winnings in either game.
Todd

50

Chief Bottle Washer

New Jersey
United States
Member #1
May 31, 2000
27,936 Posts
Online

Nov 21, 2006, 6:23 pm

"None of the above"

Check the State Lottery Report Card
What grade did your lottery earn?

Sign the Petition for True Lottery Drawings
Help eliminate computerized drawings!
guesser

United States
Member #41,382
June 16, 2006
1,969 Posts
Offline

Nov 25, 2006, 3:55 pm

If we did, NONE OF US would play at all.
Just6ntlc

United States
Member #16,611
June 2, 2005
3,493 Posts
Offline

Nov 26, 2006, 2:51 pm

My vote is for national lottery keeping PB and MM.

New Topic New Poll

Subscribe to this topic

National lottery, or 3d major game?Prev TopicNext Topic

National lottery, or 3d major game?Prev Topic Next Topic