Mega Millions - $356 Million Jackpot

Started by Woolly Bugger, March 25, 2012, 12:29:36 PM

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Do you buy tickets when the Jackpot is huge??

Yes, I'm more inclined to buy a ticket or two when the jackpot is high!
14 (48.3%)
I'm a regular, I buy every week.
1 (3.4%)
I don't buy lottery tickets, the odds are way too high against me.
5 (17.2%)
State run gambling is criminal and takes advantage of the poor
5 (17.2%)
One time, at band camp, I won the "lottery"!
4 (13.8%)

Total Members Voted: 29

Woolly Bugger

Does lottery fever every take hold of your senses.

Your odds of winning are 1 in 175,711,536, yes, that is ONE in 175.7 MILLION


ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

overbrook

Thats your odds of winning the jackpot.....coming from a guy who has gotten 5 of 6 numbers in the lottery.....there are other prizes awarded. I play in moderation.....but I always enjoy the "band camp" choice  -0- -0- -0-

Stone-Man

Tom,

You got 5 of 6 in the lottery................That is worth several hundred thousand dollars .  I need a loan ;D

  JT

overbrook

#3
Quote from: Stone-Man on March 25, 2012, 15:34:58 PM
Tom,

You got 5 of 6 in the lottery................That is worth several hundred thousand dollars .  I need a loan ;D

  JT

Nope....it was the Ohio lottery. You picked 6 out of forty....and when I won it ...it only paid a $1,000 the week after...they upped the prize to $5,000  b'; b';   by the way...my sixth number was one off....I figure thats as close as I'm ever gonna get...but I still donate  :D

Edit: I just looked it up....apparently its changed again since years ago when I played....now it 49 numbers and the payoff for 5 numbers is $1,500

http://www.ohiolottery.com/Games/DrawGames/Classic-Lotto

snagaluffaguss

#4
Id like to see a study of what level of income plays the lottery the most  vs. what level of income benefits from the lottery the most.

It's a scam. 

I am ok with legalized gambling but the STATE lottery takes money from the mouths of poor kids to (as is presumed) put middle class kids through college.

Morally Reprehensible and Utter Bullshit. 

Let em get loans and spend years in debt and public service to pay them back like I did.

Get Bent and I had this very conversation on a waiting bench at a steak house in West Virgina.  The guy next to us was so wrapped up in our conversation he didn't realize he had leaned in and was actively listening until I stopped talking and stared at him.

Yes I voted D

Perchjerker

Moderation is the key.  Trying to make about "taking money from poor people" or somehow the lottery "preys on poor people" is utter bullshit... 

Buying a ticket is a choice, not mandatory like a tax.  Even if low income people buy a disproportionate amount of tickets, so what?  Truly low income folks don't pay any taxes now, so if buying lottery tickets helps to pay for themselves to be on the dole, then so be it. 

snagaluffaguss

Quote from: SBeane on March 25, 2012, 18:54:02 PM

the argument that they are preventing middle class kids from having to take out loans to pay for college is bullshit.

That's what I meant when I said utter bullshit.  Its a bullshit lie about a morally reprehensible idea that sounds appealing on its face.   There was also some sarcasm in there.

Quote from: SBeane on March 25, 2012, 18:54:02 PM
If you're implying that poor people participate in the lottery more than the middle class, who is forcing them to? It's not the state's responsibility to ensure that all of its citizens are making financially responsible decisions.

Perhaps it is not their responsibility to ensure its citizens are themselves financially responsible,  but can a government be considered responsible and/or trustworthy when it seeks to gain from its most vulnerable citizens under the guise of "education?"

Quote from: Perchjerker on March 25, 2012, 19:18:26 PM
Moderation is the key.  Trying to make about "taking money from poor people" or somehow the lottery "preys on poor people" is utter bullshit... 

Buying a ticket is a choice, not mandatory like a tax.  Even if low income people buy a disproportionate amount of tickets, so what?  Truly low income folks don't pay any taxes now, so if buying lottery tickets helps to pay for themselves to be on the dole, then so be it. 


What ever helps you sleep at night.


snagaluffaguss

Quote from: SBeane on March 25, 2012, 20:28:13 PM

Like perchjerker said, it's all a choice. The government doesn't care where the revenue comes from, it's the "vulnerable citizens'" fault for not making good decisions. What exactly is the "guise of education"? The information is online for anyone to look up. If you're buying a lottery ticket without knowing where the money is going, that's your fault.  We can thank those D's you helped elect for the lottery in the first place.


QuoteLike perchjerker said, it's all a choice.

Like I said

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Quote
The government doesn't care where the revenue comes from,

I know the government doesn't care where the revenue comes from.  I'm saying it should, that its actions are predatory. 

Quote
it's the "vulnerable citizens'" fault for not making good decisions.

Fault usually denotes a lacking  or failure, or even worse suffering because of a lacking or failure.  That happens.  Profiting from another individual's lacking or failure is morally reprehensible.

Quote
What exactly is the "guise of education"?

I didn't say the "guise of education"... I said the guise of "education."   There's a difference.

QuoteWe can thank those D's you helped elect for the lottery in the first place.

Don't mean to blow your hair back but Ive never voted Democrat in my entire life.

I don't mind gambling, or drugs, or prostitution for that matter.  I just think the are all shady businesses.  If they exist legally they should be private and heavily regulated and TAXED.  They are VICES and vice is not a business a protective and authoritative entity that seeks to provide for the health and welfare of the citizens it serves should be directly involved in.

Of the three gambling is the most shady.  Hell with the other two you get at least a buzz and a BJ.  The lottery ticket just winds up as worthless litter for some other unfortunate individual in an orange vest to have to pick up.

tomato can

IT IS a TAX on the Misinformed.  My favorite part of the absurdity is the government advertisements to play the lottery.  Any godawful minute market in the wrong side of town is full of scratchers and what not.  With that being said, I have played and enjoyed the "what if" game.  Hopefully I won't choke on my hypocrisy.

snagaluffaguss

#9
Quote from: SBeane on March 25, 2012, 21:01:22 PM
Quote from: snagaluffaguss on March 25, 2012, 20:51:25 PM


Quote
What exactly is the "guise of education"?

I didn't say the "guise of education"... I said the guise of "education."   There's a difference.

I was quoting you...to be more exact I should have said "guise of 'education.'" I still don't really know what you mean by this. It's not secret where the money goes.

QuoteWe can thank those D's you helped elect for the lottery in the first place.

Don't mean to blow your hair back but Ive never voted Democrat in my entire life.

Sorry, I thought you were serious when you said, "Yes I voted D." There really should be a font for sarcasm.

by guise of education  I mean they are trying to look legit while engaged in a shady business. I put education in quotes to denote that I am not a fan of the current system.  That's another topic for another thread that would need 10 or more pages to find out we only slightly disagree.

I meant I voted D in the poll (the misunderstanding is understandable considering how left I can be on some issues)

5xTippett

In South Carolina some of the lottery money goes to college scholarships.  I am not sure what percentage.  In order to receive the standard one (the Life Scholarship, $5000. per year)  you have to have a B average in high school and make a 1100 on the SAT or the equivalent on the ACT.  You have to keep a B average every year you are in college to keep it.  It doesn't matter if your daddy is worth a million dollars or ten dollars.  I did not vote for the lottery nor do I play it, but my last two daughters are graduating this year and I have to confess I am glad it passed!  I am no hypocrite and I will admit it.  Two of my friends and I were discussing tuition one morning and we worked out the jumps in tuition since we graduated from college. The last year I was at Wofford in 1977 my tuition adjusted for inflation worked out to around $12,000 in today's dollars, including room and board.  It is over $43,000 now. One of my friends who was with me that morning graduated from Clemson four years earlier than I graduated from Wofford.   His tuition worked out to somewhere around $5,000. Clemson is around $ 17,000 or 18,000 now.   All of the major public universities in S.C., Clemson, Carolina and Coastal cost a heck of a lot more than $12,000!  College tuition has quadrupled the inflation rate or close to it.  That same friend and I were discussing this tonight and we are reasonably sure the lottery scholarships gave the colleges a good excuse to raise their tuition!  They certainly have not lowered prices.

The Dude

#11
Playing the lottery gives hope to those who are living in the misery of financial dependence that they may one day hit the jackpot and remove the burden of trying to scratch out a life and the stress of never having enough money to scrape by.

Karl Marx once wrote: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."  He is saying that religion plays a key part in the lives of the less fortunate and the desperate.  It exists in the human condition because it offers hope to the hopeless.  It provdes calmness and well-being by explaining the unexplainable.  Many a preacher has assured those toiling in this life that they can rise above it and find peace, tranquility and happiness in the next life.  Oh, and you can help your cause by depositing a tithe in the collection plate when it comes around.  A lot of money has been pumped into religion on that basis.

So, I posit that state lottery preys on society in the same way that religion does - both offer a chance to transcend their current miserable lives and attain true happiness in a new life, yet there is no guarantee that either will happen.  Perhaps that is why the religious blocs are so against the lottery........they don't want to give up market share, nor do they want the oppotunity for others to discover the same line of logic that I have in this post.................

I was born by the river in a little tent, And just like the river I've been running ever since, It's been a long, long time coming, But I know change is gonna come.

tomato can

Really religion=state lottery?  That is a tepidly weak comparison at best.  And what does Karl Marx have to say about religion  I mean how much death has he caused in the 20th century with Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Fidel ad nasuem ad infintanium.  Wouldn't that discredit his criticism of religion?

5xTippett

Tomato can, I think his economics theories were a wee bit weak, also.

overbrook

I always get a kick out of "non believers" describing religeon. Let me explain something to you "Dude"  most people who truly belive in God don't want or expect anything from him....they are simply thankful for what he has already given them.I don't believe because I'm desperate,less fortunate,miserable or toiling thru life. I believe there is a higher power because I looked into the eyes of my newborn children and knew that this was nothing other than by design. I've sat streamside and looked around at the wildlife,the plant life and stared up at the sky....alll this did not happen by accident.
Now....I will however accept your analogy of the lottery VS. church to a degree. I have little use for the church as I feel God has no use for money....and as you noted...too many churches push the collection plate in your face a little too hard. I don't think the church is a total scam though.....many get great satisfaction out of gathering with the community and the church often does do some good.....I just have never been able to find one where I "fit in".
I play the lottery for fun....I used to gamble quite a bit. I had a few simple rules  1st...it was a game...treat it as such. 2nd....don't take or spend more than you can truly afford to lose....and don't be pissed when you do lose....because you probably will. And 3rd....never drink and gamble.

Now if you will excuse me....I have to go buy my ticket.  -0- -0- -0-