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11-27-2012, 12:31 PM | |
In Search of a Life
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Powerball jackpot.....500 million and growing!
Will you partake?
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/power...ry?id=17812739 The jackpot for Wednesday's Powerball drawing now stands at $500 million -- the richest Powerball pot ever -- and it's likely to get even sweeter. "Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," says Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa lottery. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots." It's proved true. The total, she says, "has been taking huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." (The most recent drawing, on Saturday night, produced no winning numbers.) Until now, the biggest Powerball pot on record -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers. In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners Lottery officials in Iowa, where Powerball is headquartered, have started getting phone calls from all around the world. "When it gets this big," says Neubauer, "we start getting inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money." The answer she has to give them, she says, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location." About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one. Asked if there's anything players can do to improve their odds of winning, Neubauer says no -- apart from buying a ticket, of course. Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you are 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award. Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provides additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he says; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery. Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi notes that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy. "But let's suppose, however, that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born," Garibaldi says. The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning Wednesday. Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi says he'll usually play the lottery. "When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets. It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy." So will he be purchasing two tickets for Wednesday's Powerball? "I can't," he tells ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball. |
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11-27-2012, 05:31 PM | #61 |
Say hello to my little friend
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That's 175 tickets, actually.
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11-27-2012, 05:35 PM | #62 |
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well then you could make Austin Chief an offer he couldn't refuse.
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11-27-2012, 05:38 PM | #63 |
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70X5 =350/ awww who cares, its wasted money anyways.
I think I do it just because I was honored to be asked to join their group.
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11-27-2012, 05:43 PM | #64 |
Say hello to my little friend
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Larryville
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11-27-2012, 05:46 PM | #65 |
..........
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11-27-2012, 05:46 PM | #66 |
Has a particular set of skills
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no shit, since when is it not a dollar? When did it go up?
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11-27-2012, 05:47 PM | #67 |
NFL's #1 Ermines Fan
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I think the most fun part about winning this would be handing out the occasional $1,000 tip at a restaurant while living my nomadic life across the country. I've always fantasized about being an anonymous guy who walks in, does some good, and then disappears forever, leaving people to tell the story for the rest of their life.
The 'most fun' statement above assumes that my marital status would deny me the whole '2 chicks at the same time' part. However, if I brought home the winning ticket, it would be a really good time to ask.
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11-27-2012, 05:50 PM | #68 |
NFL's #1 Ermines Fan
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About six months ago, maybe a year. I'm curious how it turned out for them. Doubling the price seems like it would damage the market, but at the same time they actually improved some elements, like the likelihood of getting a decently big prize even if you don't hit the big one.
I've always thought that instead of making these insanely large payouts, they should spin off toward more million-dollar winners. So increase the jackpot normally until it hits something like $250 million, but after that you divert half the money toward increasing the lower prizes. I think it would be better for the game to create one winner of $250 million and 100 winners of $1 million, than to create one winner of $350 million.
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Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history. Last edited by Rain Man; 11-27-2012 at 06:06 PM.. |
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11-27-2012, 06:05 PM | #69 | |
Ain't no relax!
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Quote:
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11-27-2012, 06:44 PM | #70 | |
Shit
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Quote:
Right? Posted via Mobile Device |
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11-27-2012, 07:11 PM | #71 | |
Ain't no relax!
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Quote:
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11-27-2012, 07:15 PM | #72 |
MVP
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So you would net like 196 million if you took the lump sum. I know what I would do with that kind of dough!
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11-27-2012, 07:18 PM | #73 | |
special teams
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Quote:
well that is usually what my tickets are good for max lottery win $7 bought a 6 pack
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11-27-2012, 07:19 PM | #74 |
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Buy ChiefsPlanet?
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11-27-2012, 07:22 PM | #75 |
It was not a fair catch
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odds are 1 in 175,000,000
IF I have done my math right: 175,000,000 nickels stacked up would run over 130 miles. you have to pick the one nickel that is the winning nickel. Yet we still play.
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