When the jackpot is much more that the cost of buying every number combination

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I read about hat group (or a similar one) doing that in several other lotteries, especially if there are less combinations to cover. Although they can greatly improve the odds, it's still a bet because they cannot control how many others might also win. If several (sometimes even one) other player also gets the same combination of winning numbers, then they split the prizes and the "corporate bettors" may not win as much as they spent.

[edit] Nevermind, the article said all that...
 
I still bought my one Quick Pick today.

Laugh if you will, when I buy 10 square miles of flat land and build out a permanent launch site complete with club house and free motors, then you will be my devout followers...
 
H_Rocket said:
I still bought my one Quick Pick today.

Laugh if you will, when I buy 10 square miles of flat land and build out a permanent launch site complete with club house and free motors, then you will be my devout followers...
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Actually, if a person won a big lottery but didn't want to over-spend, a pretty sweet way to go would be to find the biggest local sod farm that would be practical as a great club launch site, and to either:

A - Lease a small plot of land in the middle of the sod farm, plus lease some more land for adding a dirt road for access if there is none. The money paid for the lease would be plenty to take care of "incidental" damage to surrounding sod and still be a windfall profit for the owner.

B - BUY the sod farm, but keep the manager and workers and keep it running just like it was. Except you have a much more reasonable "landowner" to get permission from to fly rockets. :)

Hmm, what idd I say about over-spending? At least it would be an investment, and should make a profit unless it was either poorly run to begin with or the changeover caused it to be run badly (given that a lot of sod farms are run by the owners, so if an owner who also managed it was no longer there, choosing a good manager would be critical). Wow, starting to take this a bit too seriously.....
 
If I win, the biggest field you've ever seen would definitely be in the works. You will all have to wait a couple years for me to get back from traveling the world.

Of course, I have a much better chance of being killed in a traffic accident on the way to buy the ticket, than of winning.
 
"All your numbers are belong to me!!"

Because launch sites are becoming scarce these days, should I win the lotto, I too would buy up a large plot of land for use as a launch site...
 
georgegassaway said:
Wow, starting to take this a bit too seriously.....
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When you buy a lottery ticket, basically what you're paying for is the right to dream about what you'd do if you'd win. So go for it.

I have to say it certainly is a nice thought to imagine a large plot of open land purchased and preserved for rocket launching. But I'm not gonna hold my breath. :)
 
On a serious note what would you do with the money. I mean what bank would insure such a amount. I think the highest they insure is 200k. Even if you take a lump sum, you're getting around 500 million. Where do you put it??
 
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Don't worry, I'm sure there would be no shortage (read: hundreds if not thousands) of unsolicited offers coming in to help you solve that problem.
 
neil_w said:
Don't worry, I'm sure there would be no shortage (read: hundreds if not thousands) of unsolicited offers coming in to help you solve that problem.
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Yeah I'm sure there would be. Based o n 1.3 billion you would have to open up 65,000 accounts with 200k to be insured. I would have another acct that would handle the overflow of the interest earned. You could easily live off the interest.
 
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I don't have too much imagination, but I would put 150 mil in the bank just earning interest in an account, maybe CD. This would give you a few million in interest every year to upkeep your lifestyle. I would pick out about 10 more banks, and deposit up to the insured amount limit. Play the stock market, take some risk with several million. Blow a couple million on a house and land, buy a few cars travel, donate a bunch to charity, set up trusts for all the kids, maybe open up some sort of business.
 
neil_w said:
When you buy a lottery ticket, basically what you're paying for is the right to dream about what you'd do if you'd win. So go for it.

I have to say it certainly is a nice thought to imagine a large plot of open land purchased and preserved for rocket launching. But I'm not gonna hold my breath. :)
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Alas, it is not just the land, it's the waiver and the weather as well.....

I agree, Wayne and I purchase Lottery tickets to dream build. Our life today includes many of the dreams we envisioned 20 years ago when we first started playing: a home we love in a great neighborhood with family and friends around us, a hobby we both enjoy and can engage in together, and a successful business that allows us "enough" time and money to play but still be of benefit to our community. Lotto dreaming showed us what we really wanted, individually and as a couple and we used those dreams all along as a guide to get to where we are now. Yes a big win is intoxicating, but if you aren't happy now lots of $$$ isn't going to make you happy. For us, a win would allow us more time to play and travel, but I'd still be "working" since I'd be investing, budgeting and planning since no matter how much money you have you still need to have a budget.
 
Why would youvwantva business?? You have 100s of millions
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At the edge of my enormous piece of property, I would want my own hobby shop and general store. Someone else would run it.
 
AfterBurners said:
On a serious note what would you do with the money. I mean what bank would insure such a amount. I think the highest they insure is 200k. Even if you take a lump sum, you're getting around 500 million. Where do you put it??
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Brokered accounts. You pay a service to open multiple accounts across multiple banks. If done right, you can insure up to about $50M if I recall correctly. Still only 10%, but better than some other options.
 
They doubled the odds and it brought this. More greed.
This kind of money brings the attention of many nefarious groups. Like black hats, cloned machines, bribery, etc.
Its been done in highly secured Las Vegas.
Personally, I dont like where this is heading.
 
neil_w said:
When you buy a lottery ticket, basically what you're paying for is the right to dream about what you'd do if you'd win. So go for it.
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Oh, I agree. My comment about taking it too seriously was dissecting my own idea that if one bought a sod farm, to make sure there was still good management to try to keep the sod farm profitable. That was letting "reality" nitty gritty details start to interfere with the daydream.

Yeah, there's lots of stuff I'd do if I won big. The sod farm lease/purchase is one I've thought of for a long time.

- George Gassaway
 
How's this? We all pitch in and buy tickets. If anyone wins, he buys a field suitable for year-round flying. He builds some guest houses, and anyone who wants to come launch at any time can just sign up for a house. Get a standing waiver with call-ins for big flights. I think if every member of the forum bought about 300,000 tickets, we could guarantee ourselves a win. :wink:
 
Grammar error: should be "number", not "numbers".

And it's funnier with "us" instead of "me".

Next time, please diagram the joke properly. :wink:

DRAGON64 said:
"All your numbers are belong to me!!"

Because launch sites are becoming scarce these days, should I win the lotto, I too would buy up a large plot of land for use as a launch site...
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georgegassaway said:
Oh, I agree. My comment about taking it too seriously was dissecting my own idea that if one bought a sod farm, to make sure there was still good management to try to keep the sod farm profitable. That was letting "reality" nitty gritty details start to interfere with the daydream.
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As I see it that's just getting more money's worth out of your ticket. Or your imaginary ticket. :cool:

I've long since sworn off getting into these things, but it's still fun to think about.
 
I look at it another way. If I had the $584,000,000 required to purchase 292,000,000 lottery tickets, why would I risk loosing money if I had to split the pot with anyone else when I could simply invest that amount in conservative investments with a 5.5% annual pretax rate of return and be earning $50,000 per day after taxes for the rest of my life! Makes no sense.

If you purchase a hand full of tickets for $10, if you loose you risked $10 and lost, and go on with your life. If you win, you get $573,000,000 +/- after taxes if no one else has you number and you can make about $50,000 per day after taxes for the rest of your life. Even if 10 folks hit the jackpot, you still make $5,000 per day after taxes for the rest of your life. These are much better odds, with no down side.

Bob
 
bobkrech said:
I look at it another way. If I had the $584,000,000 required to purchase 292,000,000 lottery tickets, why would I risk loosing money if I had to split the pot with anyone else when I could simply invest that amount in conservative investments with a 5.5% annual pretax rate of return and be earning $50,000 per day after taxes for the rest of my life! Makes no sense.

If you purchase a hand full of tickets for $10, if you loose you risked $10 and lost, and go on with your life. If you win, you get $573,000,000 +/- after taxes if no one else has you number and you can make about $50,000 per day after taxes for the rest of your life. Even if 10 folks hit the jackpot, you still make $5,000 per day after taxes for the rest of your life. These are much better odds, with no down side.

Bob
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Well, you wouldn't. The article showed that it would be impossible to even buy the required number of tickets: "If you were able to buy one ticket every second, it would still take you more than nine years to buy every combination. And that's optimistic: You have to ensure that you buy every number just once -- not just 292 million quick-picks." That's why I found the article "fun" and not "useful."

Smaller lottos make it only slightly more practical, as that 1992 effort showed.
 
Interesting article. I'd buy more rockets and build a nice shop to build them in. I don't think I would change much and it word be nice to have the financial security. Here all of us talk of having this kind of money and there are people that do and they still want more or are unhappy. Something is seriously wrong with them.
 

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