The Lottery

[Tagus]

I play once every couple of months or so. The way I see it, you're paying to daydream about what you would do if you won. While I'm at work I like to imagine how I'd quit my job after the money was in my bank account... either on the spot, or wait until all the lazy pricks I've worked with need me the most and then pull a no-show, etc.

It's worth the dollar or two.

[Valisk]

As for telling people - this is a tough question. I wouldn't want to tell anyone... but how else would I explain quitting my job, moving into an amazing townhouse and suddenly living la vida loca? That's the messy part, because friends might tell friends who tell friends, and suddenly a bunch of unsavory characters know about your fortune.

Best solution I can think of is to lowball your winnings. "Yeah, I won a couple of mil, spent most of it on this place... I got a few grand left over for food and bills while I go to school" or something.

I think lowballing the winnings would be the perfect solution. Waiting a couple months after you collect the money to move, quit job, buy nice things, etc. would be hard but necessary. Or you could buy stuff while keeping and maintaining your current lifestyle (same car, job, apartment) and after a few months tell family and close friends you won like $200,000 in one of the smaller Pick 2/Pick 3 lotteries.

[Silenka]

I think the saying is simply wrong. Money can buy happiness but I don't think it can buy true fulfillment in life. Money can totally help towards fulfillment though, but for many it isn't necessary. I'd be super-happy if I had a lot of money, because I wouldn't have to work or be anxious about where my next rent money was coming from, but I'd still be empty inside lol.

As for the lottery, I don't think it's a bad thing to play it once in a while - no matter what you're going to end up spending money on stuff that sucks (like a terrible meal at a restaurant or a really shitty time at an event), I feel it's inevitable in life to some degree anyway and the stakes for playing the lottery or not are a lot higher than for trying out that new restaurant or not.

My dad plays the lottery to an excess though (it's his money I guess), and every time my family has a get-together he plays a bunch of $10 tickets with my grandpa. They usually only make back half of what they spend and I can't even imagine how much my dad has thrown away overall on the lottery... it's a huge amount. I guess it's what he does for fun though, same as going to a casino every once in a while. He was doing in-depth analysis of the lottery, however, and did successfully figure out which tickets were more likely to get you money, but of course random chance is a bitch lol. Apparently there are also letters in the middle of scratchoff tickets that say clearly what you won, they are abbreviations sometimes, but like one that wins $2 will say T W O on it somewhere.

[Day]

They say that money can't buy love in this world,
getcha a half pound of cocaine and 16 year old girl,
great big long limozine on a hot september night,
that may not be love but it's alright...

[Cail]

so did any1 win? i dont mean on here necessarily, i mean in general

[Valisk]

Yes, someone in Rhode Island. Jackpot resets to $40 Million.

[bechyni]

With all the talk of buying a lottery ticket I went out and bought one and well....

I didn't win shit.

[Aksannyi]

It's very uncommon that I will buy any lottery tickets, and if I do, they're always the scratch-offs. I don't play the ones where I have to camp the TV waiting for the numbers to see if I won. (Or the newspaper the next morning, or the internet, etc.) The scratch off tickets are more like instant gratification to me. I think the most I've ever won is $20. Every once in a blue moon I'll grab a couple of them, but for the most part, I don't even bother. As others have said, there are many other things I could spend the money on.

If I ever did play and win, I'd pay off all of my debt, purchase a modest house, put a good amount in savings, set aside enough money per year to visit my kids regularly, and set up trust funds for my kids with the rest of the money. I live modestly, always have, and always will. It's part of the reason I don't play the lottery. I'm not interested in being filthy rich. I'd continue to work for my living. I don't have a lot but man, I worked for all of it and that's something to be proud of even in this modest life I lead.

I would also never tell anyone I won anything. Money changes the way people see you. I have a lot of family that treats me like utter dogcrap over a lot of things that they fail miserably at understanding, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people being fake as fuck because you have something they want. I live 1100 miles away from most of my family members and I can live in my own bubble and never have to worry that I'll be criticized for what I'm doing with my life and/or my money. I'd live out the rest of my days comfortably with myself and anyone else who wants to accept me for who I am and not what I have, and leave a pile of money behind for my children, and hopefully, grandchildren. Because at the end of the day, I care a whole heap of a lot more for those two lives I brought into this world than any aunt, uncle, cousin, or "friend" who wants to talk shit behind my back.

Tangent, sorry. I have no real motivation to ever actually play the lottery in the first place, so it would never happen. Could my life be improved if I won millions of dollars? Sure, but I could improve my life with an extra $500, so I'll work toward saving that money and use it where I can, the way I have for the last ten years.

[Aristio]

I throw a dollar on the 100M+ lotteries and nothing else. I'd rather have the abysmally low chance at winning a 100M+ for only a dollar, than no chance at all.

[Abandon]

If I won, I'd pay off any debts I had, and just chill. I'd finish my enlistment (yup, why not?), then go home, buy a house and my cars of choice, and live off my interest, with the occasional splurge. I'd pay off my parent's mortgage, and set them up nicely for retirement.

[hey]

I throw a dollar on the 100M+ lotteries and nothing else. I'd rather have the abysmally low chance at winning a 100M+ for only a dollar, than no chance at all.

See, i'd rather have a dollar than no dollar at all.

[Aristio]

See, i'd rather have a dollar than no dollar at all.

Fine with me. I like my chance over a dollar.

[Zeb]

Except Powerball is now $2 minimum.

[Aristio]

I play MegaMillions, which is still a dollar. The MegaMillions lottery only goes up 100M+ a few times a year, maybe 3-4. And I won't be watching the lottery like a hawk either; when I'm at a gas station and see it's that high, I'll throw in a dollar.

[NynJa]

What about actual rich people/celebrities who say that?

Theyre on so many drugs they forgot what happiness is.

[Kerberoz]

Happiness is like c. Looks just as unattainable no matter how fast you're going, due to joy contraction and misery dilation. Relativity, bitches.

[Cantih]

Happiness is like c. Looks just as unattainable no matter how fast you're going,

Beautiful.

As for my habits, I don't play personally since I don't have the income for it, but I would if I did. My mother however puts a single dollar into every drawing, and because of her age and preference to get the yearly payouts, I'm actually the designated winner (well, payouts are inheritable here, but it saves headache).

As for what gets done with the winnings. The standard: Get my mom a house wherever she wants to retire to and stuff some away for medical. Stuff a bit under lock and key to be safe, invest some of it, cut some of the edge off some extended family member's mortgages/debts.
Past that, depends on the size of the jackpot. Donate nice sums to places like EFF & Child's Play, maybe see what it'd take to let PA or wherever add a second yearly winner to it's game dev scholarship.
Only thing else to do really would be to start a business, find some people out of work who know how to do things, cut a paycheck, and get some shit done.

Only really extravagant things I'd get would be:
An E-peen PC
A personal geek library on par with or exceeding the one Darus Grey is giving up. obtain ALL the JRPGs/Novels/Splatbooks!
Travel a bit, hit a bunch of places in Europe and Asia.
Throw money at BG. Advertising revenue? What advertising revenue? Have fun Qal!

[Coren]

I love all the people saying "I play when the jackpot is really big!".

Would the 15mil not allow you to live pretty comfortably for pretty much the rest of your damn life?

I've bought maybe 2 in my life. Figure the odds are higher of getting struck by lightning while getting attacked by a shark.

[RKenshin]

Yes, someone in Rhode Island. Jackpot resets to $40 Million.

The hunt begins.

[NynJa]

I love all the people saying "I play when the jackpot is really big!".

Would the 15mil not allow you to live pretty comfortably for pretty much the rest of your damn life?

I've never understood that concept either. I understand not pooling with 10 friends at a 2 mil jackpot (not that 200k is bad...but you're not going to be set for life off that), but if you're pooling with 10 friends at 20 mil, you're still getting 2.