Originally Posted by Rain Man (Post 9689774)

Here's the process.

1. Drive to the Quick Trip.
2. Look to see if they have a Powerball sign on the front.
3. Go in the store, holding it open for the pregnant woman who is entering to buy cigarettes.
4. Pretend to shop in the candy aisle while trying to figure out what country the counter guy is from.
5. Check out the soft drinks. Ponder the amount of calories in the energy drinks.
6. Look at the doughnuts. Break down and get one.
7. Go to the counter.
8. Wait behind the pregnant woman buying cigarettes, the UPS guy buying the day-old hot dog, the housewife in curlers cashing in her $2 scratch lottery winner, and the kid buying a pack of Nerds in pennies.
9. Tell the Kashmiri counter guy that you would like one powerball ticket with no powerplay. (Powerplay is for suckers.) You may be more than one ticket, and you may pick your own numbers using one of the handy forms, but most people just ask for a ticket. The Kashmiri guy understands the implication that you are purchasing "Quick Picks", which are computer-generated random numbers.
10. Pay the Kashmiri man two dollars per ticket purchased.
11. Return to your car, dream about how your life would change if you won.

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo (Post 9689659)

You can hire me to shovel pig shit for $500,000 a year. I may quit after the first year but I would thank you for the that years work.

Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels (Post 9690139)

Wait, did a Planeteer start Dropbox?!

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer (Post 9690381)

I would probably just give you the $500,000

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 9690306)

Not sure what that really means. Realistically, you don't win period. It doesn't matter if you play or not. If you get a kick out of the fun of playing and dreaming for a day or two, so be it. But acting like it's somehow "dumb" to not throw your money away is...well...not very logical.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9690445)

I'll buy two tickets when it gets over 300 million. So I'd say my money wasted on lottery tickets is less than $10 a year. If it was meant to be, its meant to be. No reason to buy $50 worth of tickets because the pot is up to $600 million. I'm sure it improves your odds but not worth it.

It's the poor that buy the majority of the tickets. But a middle class guy or gal buying $20 worth of lottery tickets every 3-4 months aint no big deal. Your on food stamps, welfare....WTF are you thinking?

Originally Posted by jspchief (Post 9690455)

Yeah, I think of the things I waste money on... Red Bull, Beer, eating out, etc. None them come with a chance of winning a million dollars. It's a small use of my disposable income.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9690445)

I'll buy two tickets when it gets over 300 million. So I'd say my money wasted on lottery tickets is less than $10 a year. If it was meant to be, its meant to be. No reason to buy $50 worth of tickets because the pot is up to $600 million. I'm sure it improves your odds but not worth it.

It's the poor that buy the majority of the tickets. But a middle class guy or gal buying $20 worth of lottery tickets every 3-4 months aint no big deal. Your on food stamps, welfare....WTF are you thinking?

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 9690470)

I don't blame people for doing it. Whatever makes you happy. My post is really just a reaction to the "you'd be pretty dumb to not at least try" comment earlier.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9690476)

Your a stat guy. Whats the worse sounding stat that you have heard that shows how high the odds are that you will actually win the $600 million?

Originally Posted by Rain Man (Post 9690768)

For the stats guys, the expected value of a $2 ticket is up to $1.68 after taxes, and $2.51 before taxes. That means it's almost free to play. If no one wins it this time, we need to group together and buy $175 million worth of tickets and we'll guarantee a profit.