You Got To Be In It To Win It

[Rocket Doctor]

Sunday March 15,2009

That's what they say, You Got To Be In It To Win It. (Hint)


POWERBALL
http://www.powerball.com/pb_home.asp

Current Jackpot $55million
cash option $29.6 million
played on Wed and Sat
30 states
Washington DC
Virgin Islands

MEGA MILLIONS
http://www.megamillions.com/

Current jackpot $12 million
cash option $7.8 million

Check the listed web sites for current information

[STRMan]

I don't know Doc, those are some pretty long odds there. One could spend a few bucks on an order from Semroc or one of the other fine vendors around here and that would be a SURE THING in my book! ;)

[Bazookadale]

This has what to do with rocketry? Oh I get it this is how you plan to finance your purchase of Estes!

Seriously I know people who put more money in the lottery than they put into their retirement funds( yes I but a lotto ticket once in a while myself) . It goes both ways y'know - you have to play to lose. Lotteries are a tax on the mathematically challenged .

[mycrofte]

They say; "The only thing dumber than buying a lottery ticket is buying two lottery tickets". But that has never stopped me either. At least when I am visiting a state with Power Ball.

[Rocket Doctor]

Just tell that to the two winners of the powerball two weeks ago, total pot was $174.4 million, not bad for a dollar investment.

And for those who spend a buck a day on coffee, what is the payoff there.

Buying a dollar lottery ticked now and again is a dream, can't we have dreams.........Hopefully one day they will come true.

And yes, I would make an offer on Estes.....

[Bazookadale]

Just tell that to the two winners of the powerball two weeks ago, total pot was $174.4 million, not bad for a dollar investment.

Buying a lottery ticket is NOT an investment it is a gamble. These two fellows won that gamble, good for them- everyone else lost their dollar(s)

And for those who spend a buck a day on coffee, what is the payoff there.

instant gratification and additional trips to the bathroom

Buying a dollar lottery ticked now and again is a dream, can't we have dreams.........Hopefully one day they will come true.

I put a dollar down every 2-3 months when powerball or lotto gets really high. An old friend of mine was known to put up to $100 a week on various lotteries since the mid 1970's - every now or then he'd win $50 -$100 or free tickets. He is now retired living on social security and the company paid pension - imagine what he'd have if he put all that money in an interest bearing account! Still he has his dreams!

And yes, I would make an offer on Estes.....
so would I :chuckle:

[LiteMeUp]

As they say, it doesn't hurt to dream...

When the pot hits $150 million (who choose that figure, don't know) 20 of us here at work throw $5 in a piece and play... Last time we won a whopping $10, to be rolled into the next pot...

Oh well, we can keep on dreamin'...

[falingtrea]

Heh, I have always considers the lottery as voluntary taxes with slight personal payback. :)

[Mikus]

Lottery = Tax on Hope ;)

[Davidtmp]

If you win 174million off buying one ticket, it isn't a gamble....It's called dumb luck. I'm sure they have probably put their share of cash into the lottery fund.
I'm kinda like some of you, I'll play once in a while when it gets high. I DON'T play every week. I know the odds, it's just for fun. I just don't want to say to myself, "that COULD have been me if I played". I agree though, some people put way too much money that they really can't afford to play the lottery.
Think about this, and I don't do any so really don't know the total.....A person puts $5 in the Powerball twice a week($10/week), smokes 2 packs a day($$$), and goes to Starbucks every morning on their way to work. How much money is this person wasting in a years time? Not to mention the health problems. And sadly, there is people like this.

[Bob Kaplow]

We just won the lottery! Who says you need to buy a ticket!

[Rocket Doctor]

Lottery = Tax on Hope ;)

Economy=recession=2009 Depression

The way everything is going knowadays, your taking a gamble just going to work, for those who still have a job. No job is safe, unless your in the banking business (Banrk Of America) and they dole out those big bonuses and the feds can't do a thing about it. You lose they win, what are the odds in this scenario.

[Gus]

The lottery is a special tax on people for being bad at math. ;)

[Rocket Doctor]

How many have gone to the Casino's in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, orr, those on cruise ships or in other locations.

One rocket motors at WM on discount would be a buck if you want to look at it that way.

You may or may not choose to play, like playing bingo.

A cup of cofee and a donut is certainly more than a buck.

Buying T-Shirts and other merchandise at concerts and sporting events at high prices only serves that venue, your doing their advertising.

You can at least dream of hitting it big..................

[Davidtmp]

How many have gone to the Casino's in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, orr, those on cruise ships or in other locations.

One rocket motors at WM on discount would be a buck if you want to look at it that way.

You may or may not choose to play, like playing bingo.

A cup of cofee and a donut is certainly more than a buck.

Buying T-Shirts and other merchandise at concerts and sporting events at high prices only serves that venue, your doing their advertising.

You can at least dream of hitting it big..................
Depending on the casino games, little different. If you are playing slots, then yes, pretty much the same luck factor. If you play Poker or Blackjack, you do have some control on your hands. Still the house has the edge.
$2 rocket flight is just so cool, sense of satisfaction of seeing something you built fly. I don't get that with the lottery.
I don't go to Starbucks, but a donut at Dunkin is about .79 or .89. Rediculous.
I may have to buy a ticket this week now. With the court case going our way, I feel lucky! LOL I share your dream Doc! :chuckle:

[JAL3]

I took statistics back in the early 80s when I was an undergrad. It was the same time that Texas got a state lottery. I remember very little about that class execpt demonstrating to the satisfaction of the prof that the chances of winning were the same (to 5 significant figures) for people who did NOT buy a ticket.

I got an A but also got booed down by all the class who liked the new lottery. It was mostly education majors who actually believed the promise that the lottery would fund the school system. We're still waiting on that one.

[Mikus]

I took statistics back in the early 80s when I was an undergrad. It was the same time that Texas got a state lottery. I remember very little about that class execpt demonstrating to the satisfaction of the prof that the chances of winning were the same (to 5 significant figures) for people who did NOT buy a ticket.

I got an A but also got booed down by all the class who liked the new lottery. It was mostly education majors who actually believed the promise that the lottery would fund the school system. We're still waiting on that one.

Perhaps you'd be happier with everyone paying a state income tax? :eek:




Ok I tried to be nice, but all that happened was my grasp of mathematics got bashed. Screw that.

Some of us picked a good career and are doing quite well enough at it to be able to spend discretionary income on frivolous pursuits such as playing a dollar on the Lottery or sticking a hunk of explosive/not-explosive in the back of a rocket and blowing it high into the air. :D

Is playing the lottery fun? Winning sure is.

Is the Lottery a significant income for the State? You betcha.

Is the Lottery potentially life-changing? The odds are small, but sure.


So if you can afford to play, cool. If you can't, you shouldn't - the odds of that "life-changing" win is very small.


But if you choose NOT to play, don't act all superior about it. You're really not. :chuckle:

[JAL3]

Perhaps you'd be happier with everyone paying a state income tax? :eek:




Ok I tried to be nice, but all that happened was my grasp of mathematics got bashed. Screw that.

Some of us picked a good career and are doing quite well enough at it to be able to spend discretionary income on frivolous pursuits such as playing a dollar on the Lottery or sticking a hunk of explosive/not-explosive in the back of a rocket and blowing it high into the air. :D

Is playing the lottery fun? Winning sure is.

Is the Lottery a significant income for the State? You betcha.

Is the Lottery potentially life-changing? The odds are small, but sure.


So if you can afford to play, cool. If you can't, you shouldn't - the odds of that "life-changing" win is very small.


But if you choose NOT to play, don't act all superior about it. You're really not. :chuckle:

I believe I owe you an apology. It was never my intention to bash you or anyone. I meant only to relate an anecdote. Pleople think I'm crazy because I like to ignite and burn money in the form of BP and APCP but its worth every penny to me. I accord the same respect to anyone who sheds discretionary income doing something they enjoy.

Gambling bit me in 1982. After a month in Europe after HS graduation, my flight back from London was cancelled because Braniff went out of business. I was there an extra few days before getting home. THe last night, I wandered into a casino and played blackjack, winning and losing. THey started giving me free drinks and before I realized what had happened, I had signed over a letter of credit from American Express to the tune of 4k. I spent the whole flight home the next day hoping my plane would crash so I would not have to explain to Mom what I had done. No such luck. Ever since, gambling has had no appeal to me.

You summed things up well, if you can afford it and enjoy, go for it. As for me, I was the geek in school who better enjoyed the math of the statistics situation I described and the trhill of gambling. THe only gamble I was still willing to take at that time was asking girls out and I even learned my lesson on that after a while.

Again, please accept my sincer aopologies. No offense was intended.

[Mikus]

Nah don't sweat it, I meant to say that wasn't aimed at you in particular. I'm sorry I left that out, you know how we Texans are when we get a burr under our saddle. Many apologies. :eek:

Yeah it's gambling. But then so is playing the stock market. Got a 401K? Tell me that's not "gambling". Heck we gamble every day that we'll come back home to our family each night - t'aint nothing guaranteed.

That's why I called it a tax on Hope. You have no hope, you pay no Hope Tax. ;)

I'm never going to be rich, at least not quit-your-job-hand-your-friends&family-a-million-dollars rich, I don't have the stomach to crush people and my now ex-bosses never bought into my idea of playing fantasy football over the internet waaaay back in 97 (yeah, I'm still crying about that one). EXCEPT I have hope that one day, my one little ticket will come up lucky and I'll be able to help a bunch of people's (including mine) lives to improve - remember, t'aint nothing guaranteed.

Do I play a lot? No, just one ticket - I passed statistics too. Actually that's not entirely true, I will cough up $5 when the payout gets large and somebody at work starts a lottery pool. As I always tell them, "Hey it's worth $5 just to avoid ANY possibility of sitting here and waving bye-bye to you guys."

But then, like I stated, I have hope. :D Just think of it as diversification, yes the odds are long but the payoff can be high. Plus anything that can help hold back taxes = good.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out an alternate viewpoint. Sorry again for the trampling. :(

[JAL3]

Nah don't sweat it, I meant to say that wasn't aimed at you in particular. I'm sorry I left that out, you know how we Texans are when we get a burr under our saddle. Many apologies. :eek:

Yeah it's gambling. But then so is playing the stock market. Got a 401K? Tell me that's not "gambling". Heck we gamble every day that we'll come back home to our family each night - t'aint nothing guaranteed.

That's why I called it a tax on Hope. You have no hope, you pay no Hope Tax. ;)

I'm never going to be rich, at least not quit-your-job-hand-your-friends&family-a-million-dollars rich, I don't have the stomach to crush people and my now ex-bosses never bought into my idea of playing fantasy football over the internet waaaay back in 97 (yeah, I'm still crying about that one). EXCEPT I have hope that one day, my one little ticket will come up lucky and I'll be able to help a bunch of people's (including mine) lives to improve - remember, t'aint nothing guaranteed.

Do I play a lot? No, just one ticket - I passed statistics too. Actually that's not entirely true, I will cough up $5 when the payout gets large and somebody at work starts a lottery pool. As I always tell them, "Hey it's worth $5 just to avoid ANY possibility of sitting here and waving bye-bye to you guys."

But then, like I stated, I have hope. :D Just think of it as diversification, yes the odds are long but the payoff can be high. Plus anything that can help hold back taxes = good.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out an alternate viewpoint. Sorry again for the trampling. :(

It looks like a case of no harm, no foul to me. :)

[Bazookadale]

Perhaps you'd be happier with everyone paying a state income tax? :eek:






Dunno where you live but in PA we have State sales tax, State income tax AND lottery after lottery after lottery. The lottery is supposed to help the elderly, don't know how my late parents never saw a penny from the state

[Jeff Walther]

It goes both ways y'know - you have to play to lose. Lotteries are a tax on the mathematically challenged .

It depends. Back when I worked for the State of Texas and hated my job, I used to play the lottery. I knew that my chances of winning multiplied by the prize didn't equal my dollar, but I wasn't just buying a chance at winning. I was purchasing a little bit of hope for a week (or even longer if I didn't check the results for a while) that I wouldn't have to go back to a job that deadened my mind and spirit.

That hope was well worth a dollar to me.

As it turned out, taking evening classes in EE was a much better investment, but nothing wrong with working both avenues...

[Jeff Walther]

I don't go to Starbucks, but a donut at Dunkin is about .79 or .89. Rediculous.

Until a year or two ago they were about $.39 or maybe $.50. When they decided that they could get in on the upscale Starbucks action is when they raised the price of their donuts so ridiculously.

They also discontinued the chocolate covered lemon filled, and, IIRC, the double chocolate (chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting).

I have resolved never to go back at this point. Clearly, they're being run by MBAs who only want to sell the donuts with high volume and fail to recognize that the lessor sellers help to bring people in who then buy the big sellers.

[JAL3]

Until a year or two ago they were about $.39 or maybe $.50. When they decided that they could get in on the upscale Starbucks action is when they raised the price of their donuts so ridiculously.

They also discontinued the chocolate covered lemon filled, and, IIRC, the double chocolate (chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting).

I have resolved never to go back at this point. Clearly, they're being run by MBAs who only want to sell the donuts with high volume and fail to recognize that the lessor sellers help to bring people in who then buy the big sellers.

I quit going to Dunkin for 2 reasons.

1> They stopped putting filling in their "filled" donuts
2> they soon thereafter closed all their local locations

[Peartree]

I quit going to Dunkin for 2 reasons.

1> They stopped putting filling in their "filled" donuts
2> they soon thereafter closed all their local locations

People who sell cake doughnuts that are disguised to look like creme filled doughnuts should be severely flogged.

[Bazookadale]

Just bought my ticket for tomorrows powerball - and won a free super seven ticket. That is the ONLY thing I have ever won in the lottery

[moonzero2]

The way I see it is someone has to win,... why not me?

[Bob Kaplow]

You have a better chance of being killed by lightning than winning the lottery.

As has been said, the lottery is a tax on those bad at math. And it's the worst kind of tax, hitting those who can least afford to pay it.

The payoff sucks. Typical return on investment in Vegas or similar environments in in the 90% range. Even illegal numbers rackets are 60%. The lottery is 45%. And 10% of the take goes to administration

Here in Illinois, the 45% profit was supposed to go to education. But for every lottery dollar that goes to education our crooks\\\\\\ elected officials have diverted two dollars of state money elsewhere, so that now schools have less funding than before the lottery. Yes, the lottery certainly has been an education here.

Want to play the lottery? Give me your dollars. I'll collect all the money, and every time someone wins one of those 200 million jackpot, I'll send someone 45% of what I collected. My 45% will go to APCP, and I'll even donate the 10% overhead to the NAR!

[Davidtmp]

I quit going to Dunkin for 2 reasons.

1> They stopped putting filling in their "filled" donuts
2> they soon thereafter closed all their local locations

I grew up in the South, so Dunkin wasn't big. They are making a comeback now as they are trying to tap that coffee market. I MUCH prefer a HOT Krispy Kreme anyday. Not even close in comparison.

[Doug Sams]

Here in Illinois, the 45% profit was supposed to go to education. But for every lottery dollar that goes to education...But it's for the kids, Bob!

:D

FWIW, I am truly put off by two things - the ever increasing number of state revenue enhancing programs that are "for education" and the ever increasing amount of money spent on education.

As for the former, be it lotteries or gambling or whatever, it's never, ever funneled into a dedicated education fund; it is always pragmatically placed into the general fund with the promise it's for education. If it all went to education, our kids would all be Einsteins and the desks would be gold plated.

As for the ever increasing need for more education dollars, well, what is needed is parental involvement as well as an understanding that 50% of all kids are in the bottom half of their class. We need emphasis on the three R's, drill problems in math and parents who reinforce what the kids are studying. In almost every district, we could get by with less dollars while getting better educations if we paid more attention (and less money).

Doug

.

[Davidtmp]

But it's for the kids, Bob!

:D

FWIW, I am truly put off by two things - the ever increasing number of state revenue enhancing programs that are "for education" and the ever increasing amount of money spent on education.

As for the former, be it lotteries or gambling or whatever, it's never, ever funneled into a dedicated education fund; it is always pragmatically placed into the general fund with the promise it's for education. If it all went to education, our kids would all be Einsteins and the desks would be gold plated.

As for the ever increasing need for more education dollars, well, what is needed is parental involvement as well as an understanding that 50% of all kids are in the bottom half of their class. We need emphasis on the three R's, drill problems in math and parents who reinforce what the kids are studying. In almost every district, we could get by with less dollars while getting better educations if we paid more attention (and less money).

Doug

.
Doug, is this a result of the fast paced world we live in now? 20-30 years ago was a lot more slow paced. More moms stayed home. Now, the time just seems to fly by, both parents working jobs. And more than ever, broken families where a single mom has to work multiple jobs to get by. Now not saying it as an excuse, I agree that parental involvement is slack. My wife teaches pre-K, they require the parents to attend 4 functions per year, and some have a hard time making that with many more opportunities. Just take time out and read to your child. They don't learn from Xbox 360.

[Jeff Walther]

In almost every district, we could get by with less dollars while getting better educations if we paid more attention (and less money)..


Hear! Hear!

Our politicians keep justifying property tax increases with teacher pay raises, but the teachers never seem to get those raises. Yet, we get the tax increases. And voter keeps falling for it, so they trot it out again.

It's obscene because our property values have also increased ridiculously. They're already getting a huge windfall in terms of property value increases much more rapid than general inflation. So why the need for a rate increase?

Well, their poor math teaching skills have given them the ability to get the voter to go along with tax increases which make no sense, so I guess there's a type of symmetry there.

And when my mortgage is paid off, I'll be paying more in property taxes than my original house payment was including taxes at the time.

[Bazookadale]

OK Saturday's Powerball #s are in let's see

19 - D'OH
23- WO-HOO!!!!
27-D'OH
49-D'OH
52-D'OH
Powerball 21 -D'OH

[Leo]

Better luck next time Homer :D

[Gus]

OK Saturday's Powerball #s are in let's see

19 - D'OH
23- WO-HOO!!!!
27-D'OH
49-D'OH
52-D'OH
Powerball 21 -D'OH
Oh man, Dale! That's just gotta hurt to have been so close. :(