Get your Mega Million Lottery tickets for tonight

[Rye Catcher]

The 26 payment amount $290,000,000 or $11,153,846 yearly ($7,250,000 net). Or take the lump sum amount $205,500,000 or $133,605,129 after fed taxes.

Think of all the athletes you could sponsor?

I plan to take the lump sum.

[lonewolf]

Me too. Although three of my paternal uncles lived to be 105, 101 and 100, I would be 106 and a long shot that I would be around to collect that 26th payment.

[wineturtle]

Now estimated to be 476 millon at stake in Friday's (mar30) drawing.
Unable to find a breakdown of the payouts yet. Suspect the lump will be around 320million


I understand over 200 million in tickets purchased for yesterdays drawing in NYstate alone.

[Conor Dary]

The odds are 175,711,536 to 1. How many people would play if you had to pick a number from 1 to 175,711,536?

I may buy one. And only one. Afterall if you don't play the odds are zero, but if you buy one they are ε. Buy 10 and the odds are 10 x ε = ε. Buy a 1000 and the odds are 1000 x ε = ε.

[SQUACKEE]

Your odds are better that you will be visited in the middle of the night by a very drunk Queen of England, who will force you to do things that just aren't natural.

[Conor Dary]

Your odds are better that you will be visited in the middle of the night by a very drunk Queen of England, who will force you to do things that just aren't natural.

I don't know about that. Someone will win the lottery, but what you describe the probability of that is zero.

[tandfman]

A better example is being struck by lightning. You have a much better chance of that than winning the lottery with a single ticket.

[Conor Dary]

A better example is being struck by lightning. You have a much better chance of that than winning the lottery with a single ticket.

By far better.

According to the National Weather Service, lightning causes an average of 62 deaths and 300 injuries in the United States each year.

[SQUACKEE]

Your odds are better that you will be visited in the middle of the night by a very drunk Queen of England, who will force you to do things that just aren't natural.

I don't know about that. Someone will win the lottery, but what you describe the probability of that is zero.

I don't believe you can say zero. It is remote but it is "possible". Her limo breaks down, her driver goes for help, she is smashed and starts wander around and..... boda boom!

[tandfman]

Dream on, SQUACKEE.

[gh]

I never cease to be amazed at the number of otherwise-brilliant people who regularly waste their money on this nonsense.

[SQUACKEE]

Dream on, SQUACKEE.

Your good, T-MAN!

[SQUACKEE]

I never cease to be amazed at the number of otherwise-brilliant people who regularly waste their money on this nonsense.

I agree, there are people freaking out here! I joked that I couldnt get excited until it went to a billion. With a 1/2 billion, you buy an aircraft carrier and your broke, and thats a used one!!!!

[mcgato]

I never cease to be amazed at the number of otherwise-brilliant people who regularly waste their money on this nonsense.

Think of it as entertainment. You buy a ticket, and spend a few days dreaming about what you will do if you win. If you don't buy a ticket, you won't win. If you do buy a ticket, you have an extremely small chance of winning.

I have a PhD in statistics, and I just picked up my tickets. I can afford it and I only play when the payout is very large. I figure that if I win, it had better change my life. The scratch off, daily pick 3 or pick 4 games are total wastes. The return is much worse than a casino. For the pick 3, the probability of being correct is 1 in 1000 but the payout is $275 in New Jersey.

[Conor Dary]

The excellent economist Felix Salmon has a similar sentiment and thinks buying an occasional lottery ticket will deter you from far more riskier and expensive investments.

And so it makes sense for her to buy a lottery ticket each week. If anything, it’s an even lazier way to riches than investing in the stock market, and it’s certainly a lot easier than investing in real estate. And here’s the best bit: your total maximum losses are a tiny fraction of the losses you’re risking with investments. To be sure, the chances of your actually hitting the jackpot are, to all intents and purposes, zero. But if you think of the lottery as your ticket to possible instant wealth, you can stop thinking about your investments that way. And that will make you a better investor – which in turn means you’ll be much better off in the long run.

http://www.felixsalmon.com/2007/12/merr ... ry-ticket/

[Rye Catcher]

The Mega is now up to $500 million over 26 years and $359.4 million lump sum. It will continue to rise until Friday night. The cash payout could rise to $400 million gross or $260 million after taxes. Pick your new jet. I'll Take the Gulfstream G-550. Cruise at mach 8 (526 mph) for over 7,000 miles at up to 51,000 feet. Take a bunch of friends with you.

[donley2]

I'll Take the Gulfstream G-550. Cruise at mach 8 (526 mph) for over 7,000 miles at up to 51,000 feet. Take a bunch of friends with you.

Mach 8 is REALLY fast.

[Rye Catcher]

I'll Take the Gulfstream G-550. Cruise at mach 8 (526 mph) for over 7,000 miles at up to 51,000 feet. Take a bunch of friends with you.

Mach 8 is REALLY fast.

Oops. I mean mach .08. But think of the jetlag at mach 8.

[wineturtle]

Driving your '57 Chevy past the Malt Shoppe is crusin'. 8/10's the speed of sound aint.

[Conor Dary]

Taking the advice of FS I bought ONE ticket. Here are my numbers: 6 8 10 31 45 9 a quick pick.


Let me know if I won.

[wineturtle]

Taking the advice of FS I bought ONE ticket. Here are my numbers: 6 8 10 31 45 9 a quick pick.


Let me know if I won.

\
Two more drawings with no winners and we'll see a Billion Dollar Prize !!
I have one ticket also and we share the 6, and 10 numbers-9 is in my field but is not my megaballpick

I buy and share a Lotto ticket with an elderly lady in my building --- gives me an excuse to check in twice a week on this fiercely independant 96 year old withoutthe 'I don't need a babysitter' comment..

[Rye Catcher]

Driving your '57 Chevy past the Malt Shoppe is crusin'. 8/10's the speed of sound aint.

Now is that Chevy a convertible fuelie? The ultimate '50s car.

[gh]

I'll Take the Gulfstream G-550. Cruise at mach 8 (526 mph) for over 7,000 miles at up to 51,000 feet. Take a bunch of friends with you.

Mach 8 is REALLY fast.

Oops. I mean mach .08. But think of the jetlag at mach 8.

No, you meant 0.8! (your friend the decimal)

[Rye Catcher]

I'll Take the Gulfstream G-550. Cruise at mach 8 (526 mph) for over 7,000 miles at up to 51,000 feet. Take a bunch of friends with you.

Mach 8 is REALLY fast.

Oops. I mean mach .08. But think of the jetlag at mach 8.

No, you meant 0.8! (your friend the decimal)

Thats why I will hire pro pilots.

[tandfman]

Thats why I will hire pro pilots.

You mean guys like that JetBlue dude?

[SQUACKEE]

Odds now of having a Autisic child? one in 110..people continue to have children without any worry.
Odds of winning this Lottery? one in 177 million give or take a couple of hundred thousand, but I was corrected by an co-worker who said, "Someone has to win." YEP!

[gh]

from today's Borowitz Report:

<<Greece Buys Mega Millions Ticket
Prime Minister Travels to Convenience Store in Indiana

ZIONSVILLE, INDIANA (The Borowitz Report) – In a move that raised many eyebrows among financial ministers across the Eurozone, the nation of Greece today purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket in the hopes of winning a jackpot topping $540 million.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos made the extraordinary purchase himself, traveling to a convenience story in Zionsville, Indiana where he briefly chatted with the Hoosier Lottery’s Mega Millions mascot.

While the odds of winning the jackpot currently stand at 1 in 176 million, experts say that the odds of Greece solving its financial problems on its own are approximately 1 in 975 zillion.

The Greek Prime Minister acknowledged that buying a Mega Millions ticket might appear to be a desperate move to the outside world, but added, “At this point it was either that or sell the Parthenon to Mark Zuckerberg.”

Asked why he purchased only one lottery ticket, Mr. Papademos said, “That’s all we had money for, and even that we had to borrow from Germany.” ....>>


www.borowitzreport.com

[Conor Dary]

The local news just now said that a local math professor said that to have at least a 50/50 chance you have to buy 88 million tickets. Which shows at least someone, though apparently no one at the station, knows how to divide by 2.

Of course, that is have a winning ticket. Nothing at all about the amount of money to be won.

[tandfman]

The local news just now said that a local math professor said that to have at least a 50/50 chance you have to buy 88 million tickets. Which shows at least someone, though apparently no one at the station, knows how to divide by 2.

But they are making a fundamental error in thinking that. The problem is that if you bought 88 million quick-pick tickets, some of those would be duplicates, which would reduce the odds of being a winner since you wouldn't have 88 million distinct picks. Worse yet, I'm sure you wouldn't have time to buy that many tickets. In fact that's probably true even if you walked up to your local lottery outlet with $88 million in cash and asked for that many quick picks.

[Conor Dary]

The local news just now said that a local math professor said that to have at least a 50/50 chance you have to buy 88 million tickets. Which shows at least someone, though apparently no one at the station, knows how to divide by 2.

But they are making a fundamental error in thinking that. The problem is that if you bought 88 million quick-pick tickets, some of those would be duplicates, which would reduce the odds of being a winner since you wouldn't have 88 million distinct picks. Worse yet, I'm sure you wouldn't have time to buy that many tickets. In fact that's probably true even if you walked up to your local lottery outlet with $88 million in cash and asked for that many quick picks.

Absolutely correct, which I implied when I mentioned the amount of money won is a complete unknown. Of course no one mentioned any of this, since if dividing by 2 is too much, such abstract thinking is certainly beyond the pale.

Frankly, with so many tickets being purchased the odds of a single winner is pretty small.

[tandfman]

Frankly, with so many tickets being purchased the odds of a single winner is pretty small.

That may be, but I don't think I'd be too upset if I had to share my winnings with you or SQUACKEE.

[Rye Catcher]

You miss some important points. How long would it take the clerk to ring in and print 88 million tickets, then after you get your tickets and you are sitting at home drinking a tall one and you get the winning numbers...............how long will it take to read the tickets?

I just reduced my odds of winning from 177 million to one to the very winnable 4 million to one.

My problem will be to avoid the media and my newly found 2,500 blood relatives.

[Conor Dary]

Frankly, with so many tickets being purchased the odds of a single winner is pretty small.

That may be, but I don't think I'd be too upset if I had to share my winnings with you or SQUACKEE.

Did you and Squack go use my numbers I posted earlier? They are probably all over the internet by now. We will find out we won and it will turn out 20 million others did too, and each won $32.15. And that is before taxes.

[wineturtle]

I wonder what number combo is the most often picked?

1-2-3-4-5-6?

[Conor Dary]

I wonder what number combo is the most often picked?

1-2-3-4-5-6?

When I taught in South Boston years ago, the Mass. Lottery once had all the winning numbers under 10 or something like that. Turned out there were over 600 tickets with that number. So instead of 6 million or so everyone got about 10,000. The Boston Globe ran a story on popular numbers and sure enough the most common chosen each week were your 6. Which is pretty dumb, but there you go.