NY United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
4,772 Posts
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"Geez, how much will it take for you to retire on ? 7-8 mill isn't enough ??"
Why spend $10 on a chance to win 7 or 8 million when I can have the same chance at 25 or 50 million for $10? We've had the discussion about your odds not being better when the jackpot is big, but they aren't any better when the jackpot is modest, either. If you're going to spend $n per year on lottery tickets you might as well concentrate your efforts on the bigger jackpots. The only reason I can see for playing every draw is if you always play the same numbers, since having your numbers come up when you didn't play them would be just a little bit depressing.
United States
Member #41,382
June 16, 2006
1,969 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Jan 30, 2007
"Geez, how much will it take for you to retire on ? 7-8 mill isn't enough ??"
Why spend $10 on a chance to win 7 or 8 million when I can have the same chance at 25 or 50 million for $10? We've had the discussion about your odds not being better when the jackpot is big, but they aren't any better when the jackpot is modest, either. If you're going to spend $n per year on lottery tickets you might as well concentrate your efforts on the bigger jackpots. The only reason I can see for playing every draw is if you always play the same numbers, since having your numbers come up when you didn't play them would be just a little bit depressing.
Here are your odds:
If you don't play, you can't win... :)
You are correct: each persons' odds are no better the higher the amount gets, or by having more people play, but you cannot deny that it makes sense that the odds of SOMEBODY winning are slightly better when more people are playing, no ?
The only reason I would skip playing a few draws after a jackpot was won was because in the past, the chances of two jackpots hitting in a row was kinda rare - they would usually be at least 5-6 drawings apart, but that's changed a bit in the last 6 months or so...
NY United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
4,772 Posts
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Quote: Originally posted by guesser on Jan 31, 2007
Here are your odds:
If you don't play, you can't win... :)
You are correct: each persons' odds are no better the higher the amount gets, or by having more people play, but you cannot deny that it makes sense that the odds of SOMEBODY winning are slightly better when more people are playing, no ?
The only reason I would skip playing a few draws after a jackpot was won was because in the past, the chances of two jackpots hitting in a row was kinda rare - they would usually be at least 5-6 drawings apart, but that's changed a bit in the last 6 months or so...
Of course the odds of somebody winning are higher when more people play, but what does that do for me? It certainly doesn't increase my chances of winning, and I play the lottery because I hope I will win. There are two outcomes I want to see when I buy a ticket. Option 1 is for me to win the jackpot. Option 2 is for nobody to win so I can have a chance at a bigger jackpot. The most desirable scenario for option 1 is that it comes after a dozen or so draws resulting in option 2. Somebody else winning just means that the next jackpot will be smaller. That's good for somebody, but not for me.
So what's a better deal? Paying $1 for a chance at winning $4 million or paying $1 for the same chance at winning $40 million? The last PB jackpot took 16 draws to be won. Somebody who bought one ticket for each draw would have had 1 chance in 145 million of winning $15 million, 1 chance in 145 million of winning $20 million, 1 chance in 145 million of winning $25 million, and so on up to 1 chance in 145 million of winning the $254 million. For the same $16 they could have had 16chance in 145 million, all for the $254 million jackpot. YMMV, but I think it's a better deal to have the chance at a bigger jackpot. As I've said before, the problem is that you never know ahead of time what will be the biggest jackpot. If you pass on a $100 million jackpot that gets hit, you won't have had any chances and the jackpot will be back to 15. A reasonable strategy is to wait for it to roll a few times and then play twice as much on each draw until it gets hit.
As far as not playing because it usually rolls a few times before getting hit, that's a silly reason unless you have some odd desire to be one of the losers for a draw that has a winner. What does that get you except a lot of company? If the numbers that are drawn match the numbers you played you win regardless of how many draws there have been since the jackpot was hit last. Waiting a couple of weeks doesn't change your odds, which are strcictly a function of how many tickets you buy.
United States
Member #9,579
December 12, 2004
2,121 Posts
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i figure 50,000,000 people buy 1 dollar for several weeks after a big one goes,so the lottery just puts it up 5 million for awhile,and adds 45 million to their coffers!
Pennsylvania United States
Member #1,340
April 6, 2003
2,581 Posts
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I have one ticket for every draw.
I used to play more, but now it's just one QP with the powerplay.
On the occasion that I have some system, I will replace the QP with that line, but for the past 8 months I'm"between systems" so it's just the QP and it doesn't matter what the jackpot value is.
I have one ticket for tonight's 20,000,000 I had one ticket for the 240,000,000. I'll have one ticket the next time it gets big...
I like this better, I know my entire lottery budget for the year in advance, $208. every time I hit the red ball or 3+0 it lowers that amount. a 3+1 would make my year since I already got $15 in january on a red ball hit...
A long and winding road United States
Member #17,083
June 10, 2005
6,680 Posts
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My odds are the same whether its a high jackpot or not. My tickets are qp so I figure they already know which balls NOT to pull . I tell all my associates what numbers are on my $5 play ticket and advise them NOT to play those numbers!
Luckily I am also in a small group pool each week and we usually break even by the end of the weekly plays.
Its discerning when I hear that some folks are only in the game for the BIG jackpot amount and anything less is meager. Give me 10k, Give me 1 k...its the thrill of the draws that is enjoyable! In it from the beginning and staying til the end is my motto!