This isn't the lottery, but I hit these two almost back to back when I used to travel to Atlantic City on a regular basis. I'm normally a craps player, but would play video poker when I wasn't at the craps table.

002 (resized).JPG

005 (resized).JPG

It's always best to only spend in regards to expendable dollars. My wife & I work for the local school district, so we live by our means. We are very fortunate to have all the necessary benefits & an incredible retirement plan. Every week I play $25 in numbers & she spends $50 every week on lottery tickets. We save all the winning tickets until the end of the month & the winning monies go towards next months expenditure. I have done the math for several years & we have approximately won .35 cents for every dollar spent. Not a very good return, but the possibility of hitting the jackpot is reason people play. That dollar spent is a rush w/ an expectation of a (fleeting) dream. My analogy of the lottery is this ~ The average Walmart store is approximately 100,000 sq. ft. > Put a dollar on that one & only winning sq. foot & you win!!! Most likely it's not happening, as this puts the astronomical odds into perspective.

So a car payment each month towards lotto? It's your money, so spend it as you wish, but damn!

$2. The key is not to buy another lottery ticket with the winnings. Buy an ice cold Coke and quit while you're ahead ...

I spend $2 to $5 on lotto each week and most of that is a set of numbers we have been playing forever. When you get into "a few hundred a month or more", that's a nice vacation every year, a new car payment, a home paid off early, or a decent augmentation to any retirement plan. For those of you who spend that kind of money each month on lotto, how do you justify that? Again, do as you wish with your money. I'm just curious.

I tossed $2 into the lotto pool at work today. My first thought was what machines I'd buy with the money. TSPP would be #1. Then I'd probably put an order in for an Iron Maiden. That would kinda max out the room in my house. So I'd start shopping for a house after that... one with a giant walk out basement.

I trust it that you're not math teachers?

Boom. I'm here all week. Try the veal.

$1k.

Just got tickets for the jackpot. If I win the whole thing I’m buying everyone who posts in here an IMDN.

880390F0-857A-4863-B868-8175B209678A (resized).png

I'm just here for the IMDN

The key words are expendable dollars. My wife & I don't have any debt & we have contributed 20% of our income to retirement for many years. A few hundred dollars a month is dispensable for us. We live by our means & are never compulsive when it comes to any lottery purchase. We stick within our perimeters for we have more than enough.

My Brother almost hit Lotto Max a couple of years ago. You need to match 7 numbers to win. He got 6 out of 7 and missed the 7th number by one digit. He had a 22 for the 7 th number and it was a 23.
He would have won $50 freaking million but because he missed that one number, he won just over $4 grand.
QSS

Yeah I play, have to be in it to win it.

It's cool. You enjoy it and sounds like you have everything well sorted out. I always end up with a decent amount of scratch offs in my Christmas stocking. Between that and my regular lotto numbers, I mostly lose and don't find it terribly satisfying. It's just hard for me to imagine allocating hundreds of dollars a month towards it vs. those other things I mentioned. To each their own though. Good luck!

We won $2 last night on a $2 ticket, woot woot.

I hear these are great numbers:

Quote from beelzeboob :
The numbers are: 6-21-3-11-25-15 and the powerball number is 21 (see if you can break the complicated code there...)

I tried it but it didn’t fit or win

53E4A250-567C-4FD5-895C-0C5C648EB10F (resized).jpeg

No

$325 a month doesn't buy much of a new car. Plus insurance, fuel, maintenance....

Besides, how much a year do some here spend on pinball machines? Basically I say "Don't tell me how to spend my money".

And I didn't tell him how to spend his money. Just in terms of satisfaction for money spent, I don't get it at all. I think most of us buy lottery tickets knowing we're probably going to lose. A couple bucks a week? So what. I'll pay that price for a chance to dream a bit. A few hundred per month every freaking month?

As for pinball machines, mine are all worth more than I paid for them. Can't say that about most hobbies.

You are right. You don't get much car for $325 per month unless you lease. If you are throwing it away anyway, why not? Hell, my daughter's payment on a new Turbo Civic is only ~$350 per month and she'll own it in 5 years. Those are surprisingly nice little cars.

I guess it was the "but damn" statement that stuck out. Everyone has their way of having fun. Everyone has different levels of savings, income, income streams (some have defined benefit pensions for life) and choose to spend how they want. The retired teachers probably have a car or two and don't need a third one so they play the lottery with the excess fun money.

Maybe they have funded pinball machines, vacations and don't have other hobbies that require what they play.

Good for them and I hope they are happy. You too, by the way.

Oh, I still feel that way. I'm simply expressing an honest opinion. I just can't fathom how that is satisfying. If I drop a hundred bucks on slots in Vegas, it usually takes a few hours and they at least get me drunk. Hell, sometimes I meet some really interesting folks.

Most I've won from the lottery was $40 on one scratch off ticket. Actually won $10 x 4 on the same ticket.

Dad plays the lottery almost every week. And whenever he comes to visit me here in Indy, he always buys a ticket because Indiana is the winningest state for Powerball.

Is it also the buyingest state in Powerball?

Don't know that stat. Can't imagine it'd be more than Illinois with Chicago, or New York/New Jersey.

EDIT*

Most likely is due to Indiana being one of the first to play Powerball. So, longer time playing = more winners.
http://time.com/money/4912174/states-most-powerball-winners/

My cousin’s gma won 7m. She died shortly after and they all fought over it. People lost a lot of money fighting, and one person got it. Good times
I Play Occasionally.

This evening we won a $1000 on a $10 scratch off!!! Thanks so much MrBally for the above mentioned statements. Always remember ~ One could give a $100 to a 100 people in a room & their is always that one that will criticize or complain. CBT ~ That's what it sounds like to me > Charlie Brown's Teacher - Wa-Wah-Wah-Wa-Wah....

010 (resized).JPG

Damn! Nice. Bet your heart was thumping when you saw the 1st Question Mark. Then probably even harding during the second one.

I always wanted to try the $20 tickets. But just can't make myself do it. $5 has been my limit for scratch offs.

I overheard a clerk say once that ticket # such-and-such was always a winner for all the scratch off games. Wish I would have written it down.

I was sitting next to my wife when she was scratching this ticket, as she scratched off the bonus area first there was $200. After she uncovered the $600 total I said to her that this is a $1000 dollar winner. At this time we are saving for WOZ & we agreed to put half the winnings towards that machine. We have won $500 several x's, $100 many-many x's, but never $1000.

Hey man, knock yourself out. It just strikes me as very unusual I guess. The average American spends $200 to $300 per year on lottery tickets. You are way beyond average. A $1K winner sounds great but put it in some perspective. You need to do that 3 more times in a year just to roughly break even. That doesn't sound so great to me.

Gee, I might have to start a Go-Fund-Me page just to support my lottery addiction. Key words/gibberish > Expendable Income & Wa-Wah-Wah-Wa-Wah....

I was just thinking about starting a lottery topic, and I did a search and seen this already exists.

Maybe add a poll, about how many times a year you play the lottery, with choices something like never, everyday, a couple times a week, etc.

Anyway, years ago I did pretty good with lotto south, 4 numbers a few times a year, paying 70 bucks a pop, so I was always playing free and sometimes making a little profit.

Then they did away with that and started the Mega Millions, and I played that for too long, never had any luck.

For a long time now all I play is one cash for life ticket, on average the 2 times a week I am at the store anyway for other things.

That ticket hit 10 bucks tonight, and it was fun knowing at a quick glance that I had won something.

A while back I hit it for 100 bucks, so I have been playing for free anyway.

I have never played scratch offs my entire life, except for my 25th? birthday I was bored and went and purchased a whole roll of some black jack game, the roll cost 300, and I only got back around 225, but it was several hours of fun.

I hate being in line at the store behind someone talking about "I want a #3, and a 5, and a 42), and etc.

I just do one cash for life quick pick 2 times a week, and it is ok fun for me, and the odds are a lot better than the high jackpot games.

Someone does eventually win the high jackpots, but the odds are just way too bad, and I don't need that much money anyway.

I would like to hit the 1000 a week for life, or the 1000 a day for life, and in the meantime at least with this game I can win enough to play for free, or maybe even make a tiny profit, while I have fun with it.

A very long time ago I figured out a way to guarantee doubling my money with cash 3. I did it wrong to start with, but I meant I was not going to lose money, so in the end I was just playing it to break even, and I kept up with it, and when I finally hit, I had spent 1250 and I had 3 500 tickets to get me to 1500, and I was done with that.

If you do it right, cash 3 is the easiest way to double your money guaranteed. BUT, all the extra trips to the store is not worth it to me. That got to be a chore, and I only want to play a little and have fun checking my #.

Yes I buy NIB sterns all the time

Rarely. Since powerball and megamillions went to $2. I'm at the gas station, I can get three cookies, or two doughnuts, or enrich the jackpot. Food always wins. When they were $1, heck for a buck you can dream. $2, nah.

Awhile back power ball was at 900+ million. I did buy 1. Hit the powerball, $4, next drawing a billion and a half. Bought another one, lost. But I figure I broke even, I did better than most people on that one.

LTG : )

That is another kind of lottery, and can be very stressful.

Cash for life is also $2, and I hate that, but the odds are a lot better that you can at least pretty much break even, while having fun, and a chance at a jackpot.

I care less if power or mega ever goes to 5 trillion, odds are way too bad, a total waste of money.

With the game prices on NIB games and even beaters in need to win money. Yes pinball is just a toy in some eyes but its also of part of life. You chose how you money goes besides the tax man.

my dad is now 83 but he won 1st prize in the lottery here, not once but TWICE!

my parents were married at 21, only 3 weeks after they married they won first prize. this bought them a block of land and my dad being a carpenter built the house.

then 18 months later he won it with my uncle. he went to buy a brand new car this time. he went with my uncle who was about 10 years older.

he was sitting in this new holden and had decided to buy. all of a sudden the salesman came up and asked my dad rudely to get out of the car. basically at 22 you didn't buy a new car in 1960.

so my older uncle looked at the salesman and said 'that young fella just won the lottery'

he then changed his tune. my dad told him to shove it and went and bought another car at a different car dealer.

An old golf pro buddy won a 500,000 on a scratch off ticket, proving to everyone who knew him that his gambling addiction was epic. He had played golf with fellow pros in the morning (for money of course). After finishing they all went to Santa Anita race track for the horses. Pretty normal.

He then went to the Los Alamitos for the quarter horses at night. And hit his winning ticket while waiting in line to place a bet. That's pretty epic for a gambling degenerate. Later in life he designed a famous putter. Rumor has it that when he sold the putter company his bookie was standing nearby to collect.

My Wife just pulled in $250,000 yesterday on the Extra! (Canadian lotto)

What machine/machines are you buying?

I recently read a story about a guy that owned 2 gas stations, and he lost them, and his house, after he became addicted to playing the lottery.

It was super easy for him, because he had all of those scratch off tickets just sitting right there in his store.

And sometimes he would win 50 grand, but he would play all of it back and lose loads more.

That story also talked about how the lottery does not have to have the truth in advertising stuff like most other businesses would, and they can say all that "today could be your day".

It is a shame that through the years the lottery people have added more numbers, and made the odds go up a whole lot more, just to entice people to play more for all of these higher jackpots.

And local news does not help at all, they show people all of the time waiting in long lines and spending a whole lot of money, like I have seen one dude buying 1300.00 worth of tickets on the news, and that is messed up.

I still buy a Cash For Life ticket 2-3 times a week, and I win enough that I am playing for free.

If I ever notice them adding more numbers to that and making it harder, I will never play any of it again.

I would not even play the lottery at all, but 35 years ago, when there was not much lottery stuff out there, and not in many states, not even in GA yet, someone I knew won a FL lottery for 13 million, and he told me to buy a ticket every now and then, you never know what may happen.

I used to do that, and I did ok, never hit a big one like he did, but won enough that I was playing for free, and it was fun.

And yes, sometimes someone does win a very big lottery, and they say you have a equal chance if you play.

HELL NO!

The odds are way too bad!

Way better to waste money on that playing games with better odds that pay out less, IMO. (I stay pretty much even anyway, while having fun with it).

Yes .....0

$20 That is all.

Lottery=Extra taxes for stupid people.

Mega millions and Powerball are for suckers. Odds of hitting jackpot are insane. However, most state based lotteries are more reasonable. Colorado Lotto for example. I’d take a more reasonable shot at 12 million than insanely impossible odds at 500 million.

A friend won 1/8 of £1m as part of a work syndicate. The tickets were high cost, low volume in aid of a local charity for £300 each. The price was too much to buy in for one work colleague on his team, big woops!! Apparently he was close to tears...