Buying MM or PB lottery ticketsPrev Topic Next Topic

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When do you start buying MM or PB?

It doesn't matter.

[ 5 ]

[ 20.0% ]

$20 Million

[ 4 ]

[ 16.0% ]

$100 Million

[ 2 ]

[ 8.0% ]

$200 Million

[ 3 ]

[ 12.0% ]

$500 Million

[ 4 ]

[ 16.0% ]

$1 Billion

[ 1 ]

[ 4.0% ]

$2 Billion

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

I never buy.

[ 2 ]

[ 8.0% ]

Secret.

[ 0 ]

[ 0.0% ]

Sometimes.

[ 4 ]

[ 16.0% ]

Total valid votes

[ 25 ]

Discarded votes

[ 2 ]

Tucker Black

Colorado
United States
Member #173,294
February 25, 2016
1,135 Posts
Offline

Dec 28, 2025, 1:52 am

Quote: Originally posted by Justing618 on Dec 27, 2025
What game cost 3 dollars or less. With the chance to win 2 million dollars with better odds Elmer? Let alone hundreds of millions.......

It would be nice if you would use my user name Tucker Black, or just Tucker for short if you want.

To all those people who say that a $3 PB w/PP ticket is the best way to win $2 million... consider this:

Buy three $1 tickets on pick 4 straight (three different number combinations).

If one of them hits, parlay that into 4,800 tickets -- 12 different combinations, and 400 $1 tickets on each one. You still have $200 if that second drawing doesn't win. Win $2 million (400x$5,000) if it does hit. Odds of winning the two drawings is 1 in 2.777 million.

You could do even better with roulette. Start with $3, bet on one number, parlay any winnings into single spot bets, and after just four successful spins in a row, you will have $5 million. Odds of winning is 1 in 2 million.
Justing618

Baltimore
United States
Member #221,592
March 26, 2022
999 Posts
Offline

Dec 28, 2025, 9:13 am

Quote: Originally posted by Tucker Black on Dec 28, 2025
It would be nice if you would use my user name Tucker Black, or just Tucker for short if you want.

To all those people who say that a $3 PB w/PP ticket is the best way to win $2 million... consider this:

Buy three $1 tickets on pick 4 straight (three different number combinations).

If one of them hits, parlay that into 4,800 tickets -- 12 different combinations, and 400 $1 tickets on each one. You still have $200 if that second drawing doesn't win. Win $2 million (400x$5,000) if it does hit. Odds of winning the two drawings is 1 in 2.777 million.

You could do even better with roulette. Start with $3, bet on one number, parlay any winnings into single spot bets, and after just four successful spins in a row, you will have $5 million. Odds of winning is 1 in 2 million.

No thanks. Your Elmer...... So people are supposed to keep playing pick 4. Hope that they hit. Then spend all that on more lottery tickets. 😂 How about you try your theory. Let us know how it works out. 🤦And you did not even answer the question. ...Again..... where can I spend 3 dollars with the chance of winning 2 million second prize. Or hundreds of millions.......
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
United States
Member #30,469
January 17, 2006
12,515 Posts
Offline

Dec 28, 2025, 11:04 pm

Tucker Black

The house has minmums and maximums, the maximums exist so you can't turn four successful spins in a row into $5 million. The Horseshoe in Las vegas is famous for advertising 'no limit bet's but truth be known, if the table max is $10,000 and you want to bet more you'll have to bet more as your first bet with your own money.

A lot of your ideas about gambling seem to be way more theorhetical than actual. here's one rule the house always has, if it's to the advantgae of the house it can be done.
Stat$talker

700 light yrs West of Milky Way Galaxy's Center
United States
Member #200,634
September 1, 2019
5,508 Posts
Offline

Dec 29, 2025, 6:56 am

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Dec 28, 2025
Tucker Black

The house has minmums and maximums, the maximums exist so you can't turn four successful spins in a row into $5 million. The Horseshoe in Las vegas is famous for advertising 'no limit bet's but truth be known, if the table max is $10,000 and you want to bet more you'll have to bet more as your first bet with your own money.

A lot of your ideas about gambling seem to be way more theorhetical than actual. here's one rule the house always has, if it's to the advantgae of the house it can be done.

"A lot of your ideas about gambling seem to be way more theorhetical than actual."

I just call it str8 up BS 💩

But, whut shouldja xspect from a bookworm that wetz hiz pantz over Postin acoupla scratchoffz
Tucker Black

Colorado
United States
Member #173,294
February 25, 2016
1,135 Posts
Offline

Dec 29, 2025, 10:45 am

Quote: Originally posted by Stat$talker on Dec 29, 2025
"A lot of your ideas about gambling seem to be way more theorhetical than actual."

I just call it str8 up BS 💩

But, whut shouldja xspect from a bookworm that wetz hiz pantz over Postin acoupla scratchoffz

Hilarious.

Everything you write is BS.
Justing618

Baltimore
United States
Member #221,592
March 26, 2022
999 Posts
Offline

Dec 29, 2025, 12:04 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Tucker Black on Dec 29, 2025
Hilarious.

Everything you write is BS.

He has proof. From winning tickets. He's posted on here. And tickets that are extremely close to winning large jackpots. Never seen you post anything. But argumentative comments...........
Think

Marquette, MI
United States
Member #20,540
August 20, 2005
1,385 Posts
Offline

Dec 29, 2025, 12:10 pm

I don't buy in based on Jackpot amount so much anymore.

The game behavior changed 10 or so years ago when they switched to these matrixes.

So, I'm a member of the 40 rolls club and won't consider playing until they hit 40 rolls. Not because of the Jackpot level but because these versions of the games are so bad that nobody wins much of anything even during the roll up to a billion.

Look at the link Todd posted in one of the jackpot amount stories about the 656 million dollar jackpot and you will see that when that was hit there were something like 161 second prizes.

That game I would play even at five bucks per ticket.

Most people just don't stop to notice how crappy the current versions of PB and MM truly are.

When PB jacks up its ticket price and odds when it goes international I'm going to quit and just get the Millionaire for life tickets
Stat$talker

700 light yrs West of Milky Way Galaxy's Center
United States
Member #200,634
September 1, 2019
5,508 Posts
Offline

Dec 29, 2025, 6:57 pm

Quote: Originally posted by Justing618 on Dec 29, 2025
He has proof. From winning tickets. He's posted on here. And tickets that are extremely close to winning large jackpots. Never seen you post anything. But argumentative comments...........

"Never seen you post anything. But argumentative comments"

He cain't post any winning ticketz, ..even from hiz OWN Cash3 list for Colorado...cauze he'z uzin dat Flat Earth Math...

Lotterology & Probability Math iz kickin hiz butt

Ya shoulda asked Texez 2 Stepper whut it actually feelz like, B4 challenging thangz you don't understand...az he'z still butthuert to thiz daaay..!

Aaand in error, he blamez MEE, instead of the Math..

-Stat$talker
GiveFive

Florida's West Coast
United States
Member #92,603
June 10, 2010
7,148 Posts
Offline

Dec 30, 2025, 10:33 am

Quote: Originally posted by Justing618 on Dec 26, 2025
People can do whatever they want with their money Elmer Fudd.... I don't understand what part of that you don't understand.

Thank you Justing618!

I find it fascinating that an arrogant know it all snob like Tucker Black thinks I should spend my entertainment dollars as he recommends. Usually I refrain from telling others how to spend their money, as do most other sensible people that know how to mind their own business. Apparently Elmer doesnt know how to do that.

Most people that play the lottery regularly know the lottery is a suckers bet. I certainly understand that. I "stupidly" spend my lottery money more for entertainment purposes without any expectation of winning anything. Yet Tucker in his infinite wisdom somehow knows what my motivation is. Why he even knows my financial posture that affords me the ability to spend copious amounts of money on the lottery! I know who the loose lipped moron here is.

Know what I might just do? If I'm ever so lucky to win multiple millions playing PB, I'll hire a private investigator to track down that mental midget and have the PI burn some of my hundred dollar bills right in front of him! I'll instruct the PI to say "Here Tucker. GiveFive" send his love with some of his "fun coupons". G5

Play Smart! That's IF there is such a thing as playing smartly!!
KY Floyd

NY
United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
5,128 Posts
Offline

Dec 30, 2025, 1:29 pm

"What game cost 3 dollars or less. With the chance to win 2 million dollars with better odds "

Lots of state games. For a single ticket at a cost of $1 NY lotto has odds of about 1 in 22.5 million, but if you're going to spend $3 you can get 3 tickets and odds of 1 in 7.5 million. When it was hit last week the cash prize was about $7.3 million. That's more than 3 1/2 times as much money with a 50% better chance of winning it.

"Let alone hundreds of millions... "

If you're hoping to win more than $10 or $15 million you either need to wait until a state game is unusually big or play PB or MM, but the extra $1 (remember the extra $1? It's a discussion about the extra $1) does nothing to give yo a chance at winning the jackpot. Anyone who's really playing for a chance at the 2nd place prize has probably better options available.
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
United States
Member #30,469
January 17, 2006
12,515 Posts
Offline

Jan 1, 2026, 1:17 am

KY Floyd

Nope, you will have 3 tickets, all of them up against odds of 22.5 million, the second and third ticket do not mreduce the odds by 7.5 million each.
GiveFive

Florida's West Coast
United States
Member #92,603
June 10, 2010
7,148 Posts
Offline

Jan 1, 2026, 10:14 am

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jan 1, 2026
KY Floyd

Nope, you will have 3 tickets, all of them up against odds of 22.5 million, the second and third ticket do not mreduce the odds by 7.5 million each.

Have to agree with you on this one Coin Toss.

When I lived in New York I used to hop over the border to Pennsylvania and buy PA Millionaire Raffle tickets. They sold a maximum of 500,000 tickets. Because they awarded four million dollar prizes, they advertised odds of 125,000 to 1 to win one million dollars. The first four tickets "drawn" (they really used an RNG) won one million dollars each.

When draw time rolled around after they awarded the first million dollar prize by drawing one ticket from the pool of 500,000 ticket numbers, which left 499,999 tickets remaining eligible to win a million bucks. After they removed a second winning ticket number, the pool of eligible ticket numbers was reduced by one to 499,998. The third ticket reduced the pool to 499,997 eligible numbers. After the fourth ticket was drawn, the pool of eligible numbers was reduced to a total of 499,996 tickets. After the fourth million dollar prize was awarded, the remaining tickets in the pool were eligible to win the raffle's lower tier prizes.

I can't see how the odds ever were 125,000 to 1. Why aren't the odds of the second ticket being drawn 499,999 to 1? Somebody's gotta do some work to explain to me why they aren't 499,999 to 1 and even then I seriously doubt I'd accept their explanation. Go ahead KY Floyd. Give it your best shot. G5

Play Smart! That's IF there is such a thing as playing smartly!!
Justing618

Baltimore
United States
Member #221,592
March 26, 2022
999 Posts
Offline

Jan 1, 2026, 11:44 am

Quote: Originally posted by Stat$talker on Dec 29, 2025
"Never seen you post anything. But argumentative comments"

He cain't post any winning ticketz, ..even from hiz OWN Cash3 list for Colorado...cauze he'z uzin dat Flat Earth Math...

Lotterology & Probability Math iz kickin hiz butt

Ya shoulda asked Texez 2 Stepper whut it actually feelz like, B4 challenging thangz you don't understand...az he'z still butthuert to thiz daaay..!

Aaand in error, he blamez MEE, instead of the Math..

-Stat$talker

I noticed that. He tells everyone elese what to do. But recently karma payed him a visit.....😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
GiveFive

Florida's West Coast
United States
Member #92,603
June 10, 2010
7,148 Posts
Offline

Jan 2, 2026, 9:28 am

Quote: Originally posted by Justing618 on Jan 1, 2026
I noticed that. He tells everyone elese what to do. But recently karma payed him a visit.....😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

And to think I thought the Bro took up prize fightin', took a thunderous right hook to the side of his head, fell on his face, and landed on Kweer Street in a Blue Funk! Boy did I have it all wrong! G5

Play Smart! That's IF there is such a thing as playing smartly!!
Tucker Black

Colorado
United States
Member #173,294
February 25, 2016
1,135 Posts
Offline

Jan 8, 2026, 1:39 pm

Quote: Originally posted by GiveFive on Jan 1, 2026
Have to agree with you on this one Coin Toss.

When I lived in New York I used to hop over the border to Pennsylvania and buy PA Millionaire Raffle tickets. They sold a maximum of 500,000 tickets. Because they awarded four million dollar prizes, they advertised odds of 125,000 to 1 to win one million dollars. The first four tickets "drawn" (they really used an RNG) won one million dollars each.

When draw time rolled around after they awarded the first million dollar prize by drawing one ticket from the pool of 500,000 ticket numbers, which left 499,999 tickets remaining eligible to win a million bucks. After they removed a second winning ticket number, the pool of eligible ticket numbers was reduced by one to 499,998. The third ticket reduced the pool to 499,997 eligible numbers. After the fourth ticket was drawn, the pool of eligible numbers was reduced to a total of 499,996 tickets. After the fourth million dollar prize was awarded, the remaining tickets in the pool were eligible to win the raffle's lower tier prizes.

I can't see how the odds ever were 125,000 to 1. Why aren't the odds of the second ticket being drawn 499,999 to 1? Somebody's gotta do some work to explain to me why they aren't 499,999 to 1 and even then I seriously doubt I'd accept their explanation. Go ahead KY Floyd. Give it your best shot. G5

When 4 tickets in a pool of 500,000 are chosen at random to be a winner, the probability that a single ticket wins is 1 in 125,000 (I'm assuming they exclude a winning ticket from being able to win again, i.e. they do random draws without replacement).

It's a straightforward 4/500000, which reduces to 1/125000 by dividing the numerator and denominator by 4.

After they draw the first winner, the probability of a single ticket that didn't win on the first draw turning into a winner is 3 in 499,999. Yes, it is 1 in 499,999 just for the next drawing, but they still have two more after that, making your chances of winning 3 in 499,999. This figure isn't of much use because you have to buy your tickets before any winners are drawn.

Consider this... what if this raffle cost $3 per ticket, and they draw 250,000 tickets to win $5. Intuition should tell you that you have a 50% chance of winning the five bucks on your three dollar entry fee. It makes no sense to state that your odds of winning start at 1 in 500,000, then 1 in 499,999 (if you didn't win), and so on, all the way down to 1 in 250,000 for the last one (if you didn't win the previous 249,999 times). That implies that your average chance of winning is 1 in 375,000. This is clearly incorrect since half the raffle tickets win $5, not 1 in 375,000.

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