The Lottery

[Valisk]

With the Powerball jackpot reaching $325 Million (Cash Value Option - $202.9 Million), I figured I would ask BG their views and opinions on the lottery and all the cliche questions that come along with it.

-What do you think about the lottery? (voluntary tax, goverment scam, etc.)

-Do you play the lottery? (MegaMillions, Powerball, scratch offs, etc.)

-What would you do if you won? (Who would you tell? How would you spend it?)

I think the lottery is a voluntary tax and an unbelievable one for the government. They are like one big national casino, guaranteed to win even if they "lose". People are aware of the outlandish odds of them winning, but they still throw dollars at the 1 in 174,250,000 chance at winning. 35 cents of every dollar also goes to fund public and social projects/programs, so it's not a complete waste if you want to look at it like donating (lol).

I do play the lottery every now and then. When I turned 18, I use to play once a year on my birthday, just for kicks. Now I play a little more frequently but only when the MegaMillions is $100M+ or the Powerball is $150M+. Usually that equates to like 5-10 times a year. Not that big of a deal. I try to justify it by saying since I', not a drug user, smoker, or drinker, I have some spare cash that most people my age would be spending on the aforementioned things.

If I were to win, I would have a lawyer set up a blind trust so I could claim the earnings anonymously. I wouldn't tell a soul (but I'm not sure how lonf that would last). I would pay off all debt (student loans, credit cards, etc.) Buy a luxury condo downtown in my hometown (Dallas). Shop and travel a bit by myself. Get a new, low-key car. Hire a financial advisor and accountant. I would go back to a better law school (dropped out of the one I was at because it is too small and not prestigous enough). After law school is when I would start spending the money. My immediate family would get their debts paid and moderate houses/cars. No one is getting a celebrity mansion or a Bugatti or anything over the top. Something they could afford the insurance and upkeep on at their current salary. Set aside some money for the retirement of my immediate family and invest/save the rest.

[hey]

voluntary tax

that

-Do you play the lottery? (MegaMillions, Powerball, scratch offs, etc.)

I don't pay any taxes i don't have to, so no.

-What would you do if you won? (Who would you tell? How would you spend it?)

I wouldn't, because i don't play.

35 cents of every dollar also goes to fund public and social projects/programs, so it's not a complete waste if you want to look at it like donating (lol).

If you want to donate to charity, donate to charity.

[Sepukku]

Throw that shit in the bank and live off the interest. Even 0.5% interest on the ~$125 million you'd have after taxes is still 600k.

[GSDragoon]

http://www.demotivation.us/media/dem...0384871857.jpg

[Zeb]

What's the saying? Sure the game is rigged, but you can't win if you don't play.

[hey]

What's the saying? Sure the game is rigged, but you can't win if you don't play.

You can't lose either.

[Sepukku]

You can't lose either.

QFT

Some more math: Saving $52 by no longer devoting $1/week to the lottery, one can basically get themselves a nice new video game every year. Or go to 52 movies at the dollar theater. Or get 5 pizzas. 8 cases of soda. 4 bottles of Smirnoff vodka. A tank of gas. Fuck theres so many things I could use $52 for. How about you stop playing the lottery, give me the money you'd have spent on it, and you're GUARANTEED of winning my appreciation.

[Dimmauk]

I dont gamble but my wife likes to play the Lotto/Scratch offs.

So are people againts the Lottery or Gambling as a whole?

[hey]

I dont gamble but my wife likes to play the Lotto/Scratch offs.

So are people againts the Lottery or Gambling as a whole?

Things like poker are fine if you're really good at it, or blackjack, if you count cards, but otherwise pretty much all gambling is stupid as hell.

[Meresgi]

I'll snag one or two tickets, if i'm out where I can get one and the jackpot is astronomical, but that's the only time.

[Esvedium]

I'll snag a ticket for power ball or megamillions if they're crazy high. Tax on those that are bad at math and all that, but it's worth a dollar to fantasize about what I'd do with over 300m.

[Myrrh_Quetz]

I used to never play the Lottery and the last time I gambled was years ago when I was 1500 dollars off 20 bucks(I love Roulette). But ever since my Transplant I like to buy a 3 dollar lottery ticket every week. Figured I won the lottery once, wouldn't hurt to try again.

And as for plans if I win. Depending on the amount I may just pay off my debts, move out on my own, and live comfortably but if I win a large amount I'd donate a lot of money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

[Franzer]

I typically play when the powerball is this high definitely. I spend more money on bullshit everyday anyway, I just add it to the list, this just happens to have a .000000001% chance of paying me back, that taco bell burrito pays me back in the bathroom.

[hey]

I'll snag a ticket for power ball or megamillions if they're crazy high. Tax on those that are bad at math and all that, but it's worth a dollar to fantasize about what I'd do with over 300m.

You could do that without spending any money.

[ronin sparthos]

Have played occasionally just for fun but it's really no different than dropping some coins in a slot machine.

I know I'm not gonna win but it's just largely to entertain myself like the Mog Lottery in FFXI.

[archibaldcrane]

I think it's disgusting that the state runs a lottery, especially given how disproportionately it is played by the poor.

Playing on the desperate hopes of the poor is a fucked up thing for the government to be doing.

I'm not anti-gambling, i love playing craps in Vegas, but I think the government should not be running it.

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[Ksandra]

I buy a ticket whenever someone reminds me because they're like "Have you see the jackpot is at like 250 million!?" I'm more than willing to lose out on a dollar now and then for a chance at it.

[Souj]

I work at a dunkin donuts inside of a gasstation and the days that I work, I spend a dollar of my tip money on a scratchoff. with all the money I've spent on tickets over the past few months I'd say I'm about $1,000 up. Won $777 on a $1 scratch off then a week later I won $100. and then got $60 pretty recently.
I don't kid myself though I never played the lottery before that DD job cause I've always believed it's just wasting money. I only started cause I told myself tip money technically isnt mine and they have a vending machine for their scratchoffs so its convenient. damn you convenience!

Even now I still think it's a waste of money. Not that it stops me from playing. I won the $777 and $100 on the same type of ticket from that same type of ticket I also seemed to win a large quantity of $1 and $5s. That type of ticket suddenly was taken off the shelf and disappeared for a few weeks but then it came back again. This time the frequency of winning tickets was absurdly rarer to the point where I'm pretty sure they had accidentally printed way too many winning tickets at first so they had to recall them, fix them and send them back.


also; thought this was going to be an announcement that the short story was going to be made into a movie.

[Omniyoji]

I only play the scratchers online people throw away on the floor outside the liquor shop. Free money bitches.

[Hiryo]

Watching my younger friends that spend 30$+ on fast food and restaurants a week, despite needing to learn how to cook at home, I'm more than willing to "donate" a dollar here and there for the lottery. There are people who actually win. There are even lottery clubs out there were teams buy multiple tickets and split the earnings. Not sure if those sort of things work out to be profitable, but hey, anything that isn't groceries or gas is a waste to me lol.