Powerball: Bet Big to Win Big, Right?

[NDallasRuss]

Is it wrong to convert everything you own into cash and invest it all in as many powerball tickets as you can, so you can win the $1.5B?

That's the saying, right: bet big to win big? Big hook to catch a big fish?

I mean, after the cash option and taxes it'd be ~$450M or something, so a slight bump for most of us in here, but the feeling of winning would be nice, and the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning and getting that extra boat money. So if the chances of winning are 1:292M, and I buy enough tickets to give myself a decent chance of winning, that's just smart, right?

I'll hang up and listen...

 

[ATLNole1]

Sounds like a good plan, should work out well.

 

[On Iowa]

I just bought all 292M available combos, so at best we'll be splitting it.

 

[MuscoHawk]

So if the chances of winning are 1:292M…

I no good at math but does this mean there are 292M potential number combinations? Tickets are $2 a pop, so a person could theoretically spend $584M on every number combination and be guaranteed to win, no? I believe I saw the lump sum payment is over $700M.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I just bought all 292M available combos, so at best we'll be splitting it.

Oh man. This may throw all my math off! I'm not real good at counting though, so I'll probably still "cast a wide net".

 

[Chuck C]

There was a woman yesterday morning at the gas station, in line in front of me, that got $138 in powerball tickets.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I no good at math but does this mean there are 292M potential number combinations? Tickets are $2 a pop, so a person could theoretically spend $584M on every number combination and be guaranteed to win, no? I believe I saw the lump sum payment is over $700M.

The hard part is hiring enough people to fill out all the slips to cover all the combinations, and get those tickets bought in time. Especially with those tiny pencils they give you to work with!

 

[NDallasRuss]

There was a woman yesterday morning at the gas station, in line in front of me, that got $138 in powerball tickets.

That's not nearly enough to move the needle on her odds of winning! She should've tried a lot harder!

 

[Colonoscopy]

I used to bathe outside as a kid

 

[dandh]

There was a woman yesterday morning at the gas station, in line in front of me, that got $138 in powerball tickets.

69 tickets...think it was a hint?

 

[HawkeyeGenius]

I no good at math but does this mean there are 292M potential number combinations? Tickets are $2 a pop, so a person could theoretically spend $584M on every number combination and be guaranteed to win, no? I believe I saw the lump sum payment is over $700M.

That $746 million is before taxes. After taxes you'd take home less than $584 million.

 

[thewop]

I just bought all 292M available combos, so at best we'll be splitting it.

In addition to the jackpot you'll have numerous other "winners" so it should end up being a good investment right?

 

[HawkMachine]

There was a woman yesterday morning at the gas station, in line in front of me, that got $138 in powerball tickets.

$138 is a very odd number.

Probably what was in her savings account.

I bought $20 worth and totally forgot about it until this morning when I heard nobody won.

Life goes on and I won't miss the $20.

 

[Funky Bunch]

 

[Aardvark86]

Is it wrong to convert everything you own into cash and invest it all in as many powerball tickets as you can, so you can win the $1.5B?

That's the saying, right: bet big to win big? Big hook to catch a big fish?

I mean, after the cash option and taxes it'd be ~$450M or something, so a slight bump for most of us in here, but the feeling of winning would be nice, and the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning and getting that extra boat money. So if the chances of winning are 1:292M, and I buy enough tickets to give myself a decent chance of winning, that's just smart, right?

I'll hang up and listen...

Entertainment, not investment

 

[goldmom]

And now it’s 1.9B. I hope there are multiple winners. America needs more millionaires. 🏦💰💰💰

 

[gohawks50]

I no good at math but does this mean there are 292M potential number combinations? Tickets are $2 a pop, so a person could theoretically spend $584M on every number combination and be guaranteed to win, no? I believe I saw the lump sum payment is over $700M.

We had a discussion about the possibility this summer with the mega millions jackpot. @JupiterHawk shared this clip from 60 minutes about a couple that did just that in a different lottery game.



Here's the thread:

Could the mega millions run out of numbers?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.

iowa.forums.rivals.com

 

[bhawk24bob]

I was hoping that the lead story today would be Winning Powerball Ticket Sold at Baltimore Liquor Store at 8:00am

 

[fredjr82]

I assume 99.99% of us got 1 number correct? 69 was one of the winning numbers