Sales grow as Powerball jackpot soars to $900 million (& 1 winner Mega-Millions $165 million jackpot

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot has reached $900 million just hours before Saturday night's drawing.

With sales breaking previous records, the odds are growing that someone will win. But if no one matches all the numbers, the next drawing is expected to soar to $1.3 billion, according to officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game.

"You can throw out the logic. You can throw out the statistics," Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, said Friday. "We've never seen jackpots like this. It's a new experience for all of us."

Since Nov. 4, the Powerball jackpot has grown from its $40 million starting point as no one has won the jackpot. This kind of huge jackpot was just what lottery officials hoped for last fall when they changed the odds of matching all the Powerball numbers, from about one in 175 million to one in 292.2 million. By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.

FULL story at link.

Mega Millions numbers for Jan. 8; one winner of $165 million jackpot: http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2016/01/mega_millions_numbers_for_jan_9.html

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4e44464b53e3492baa2d8832155c167e/sales-grow-powerball-jackpot-soars-800-million

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Between Powerball & Mega-Millions we spent $21 Thursday.

[logosoco]

1. My husband spends about $5 a couple times a month...

today he spent $10!

There was a local dance studio selling pretzels nearby. I told them if he wins, we will send them a big donation!

Then I think about paying off my neighbors mortgage and ours, and giving our house to someone who could use it.

Outside of buying a farm, I don't know what I would do with that kind of money other than give it away! That would be soooooo fun!!!!!!!!!

[SoLeftIAmRight]

2. I am going to buy 5 dollars worth today

If I win I can buy a lunch with Hillary

[Cassiopeia]

28. Maybe.

If the pot splits 3 or 4 ways you may have to settle for cocktails before she has lunch with the high rollers.

[earthside]

3. This is ridiculous.

There is a possibility that one person could win the whole thing.

No one ought to have that kind of money dropped into their lap.

At some point Powerball ought to have an ascending scale for splits, something like $200 million jackpot becomes two drawings; $400 million becomes 4, etc.

I'll buy one ticket -- the odds are so enormous that really buying more than one doesn't change your odds of winning one wit.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

4. I have thought this many times ... but,,,

I think the "win" should be much lower 5 - 10 million

[woodsprite]

9. Or even back to what they start with -- break it up into 20million pots. n/t

[SharonAnn]

33. I'd rather see 900 winners of $1million each. It would change their lives.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

35. yes

i agree

[Archae]

10. There was a TV show about lottery winners, several months ago.

One of the winners was a cocaine user, ever hear the expression "gasoline on a fire?"

They interviewed him in jail, and he still owes a lot money to banks.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

14. Great TED talk - After a year people who win the lottery and people who become paralyzed...

are back to the same level of happiness as before.

What a strange beast we are.

[passiveporcupine]

22. I'm not sure I buy that

That after a year people who are paralyzed are back to their earlier happiness levels.

[Tab]

5. A friend of mine

equated the lottery to the mathematically impaired.

Before they changed the number I used to occasionally win a buck or two. Ever since then, never. It's unlikely I'll win now but for some strange reason I'll try. It's a little insane. $10k would make my life easier. $1 million and most of my problems will disappear. Beyond that, $50 million or $500 million wouldn't matter. I'd start a foundation to support a cause I cared about. But really, if you just buy into $2 million jackpots, the odds aren't any different. It's just that at this level all the number combinations and someone is bound to win, but if you're one person in the United States, the odds aren't any different.

[JackRiddler]

34. I find that objectionable.

This has nothing to do with math talent or knowledge of the real odds.

People are buying a fantasy in the same way they buy a fantasy with pornography. Just as the porn consumer knows he (normally) isn't really having sex, but doesn't care, the lotto ticket buyer is aware (s)he isn't really spending the money, yet that is exactly what (s)he is doing in fantasy all week long waiting for the results.

[CrispyQ]

6. It figures.

...they changed the odds of matching all the Powerball numbers, from about one in 175 million to one in 292.2 million. By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.

Fits in perfectly with our winner takes all society. Why not have more, smaller prizes & spread the wealth? Cuz we aren't that kind of society. When you reach the top, you get to kick those below you.

[passiveporcupine]

23. Exactly

Although all who would win that much are not going to treat it the same way.

Poor people are far more likely to help the poor, even if it's with money won in a lottery.

[MisterP]

7. alternative title: "America's only retirement plan hits $900 million"

[Lostnote]

8. I prefer the ponies__10-1 is a tolerable risk...

[Archae]

11. I just bought 1 (and only 1) ticket.

[callous taoboy]

13. Same here. Buying any more makes no statistical sense. Hell,

neither does buying one for that matter, but you never know.

[Cassiopeia]

29. Your odds are about the same, whether you play or not.

[brentspeak]

12. Orwell's 1984: "The Lottery...was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention"

http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/orwell/1984/8/

1984, Chapter 8

...They were talking about the Lottery. Winston looked back when he had gone thirty metres. They were still arguing, with vivid, passionate faces. The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons. In the absence of any real inter-communication between one part of Oceania and another, this was not difficult to arrange....

[passiveporcupine]

24. People are always looking for the quick and easy way out

That's why so many people are wealthy from exploiting the desperate.

[JackRiddler]

36. That's even part-true today...

That people aren't getting what the label says. The jackpot is never the advertised payout, which is three to four times higher than what the winner actually gets.

Also, money for education - bullshit!!

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. I cannot buy as I am Canadian

But...

Wouldn't it by fantastic if the person that won it was a die hard liberal, and active politically? Imagine what could be done with that kind of money, even if half of it is taken by the IRS.

I am hoping one of you win it! Good luck!!!!

[Omaha Steve]

17. You could have somebody buy 1 for you

20 years ago before NEBR (we had to go across the river to Iowa) had powerball there was a big lotto in FL. Several people in Marta's office bought from a friend there that overnighted them so they were in hand before the drawing.

OS

[goldent]

18. He could spend (waste) it all very quickly on political ads

[alcina]

20. Does Canada restrict the purchase?

Because the US does not:

https://www.usamega.com/powerball-faq.asp

Can non-US citizens play? What if a non-US citizen wins?
Yes, non-US citizens can legally play, and non-US citizens are eligible to win any prize offered in the game.
If a non-US citizen wins, they would claim their prize in the same manner that a US citizen would, but the taxes withheld would be different. For example, federal withholding for non-US citizens is a flat 30%. Also, individual states may have different tax structures for non-US citizens than they do for US citizens. Depending on which country the person is a legal resident of, there also may be tax treaties between the US and that other country which could be helpful in offsetting whatever the US tax liabilities are.
In short, non-US citizens can play and win Powerball. If a non-US citizen wins a large prize, they will be responsible for some amount of tax, which in the end will probably be an amount similar to what a US citizen would pay, but there are so many possible variations with international tax codes that you'll need to consult with a local tax attorney if you need to know a precise amount of tax liability.


We were in Buffalo today and picked up a ticket. After reading your post, I was worried that I'd just wasted $5. Oh wait a minute....

[passiveporcupine]

25. Yep. Hey, if I buy one and win you wanna split it?

Only problem is I don't gamble or throw my money away and I won't buy a ticket!

[tekriter]

16. An ideal prize...

We had one of our office assistants win a pretty good lottery prize a few years ago; $200,000 tax-free.

Not enough money to go completely stupid, or to have hundreds of brand-new relatives show up out of nowhere.

But it was enough for her and her husband to pay off the remainder of their mortgage, pay off a car loan, go on a couple of nice vacations, give some to their kids and still have some left to put in the bank.

And it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, either.

[IrishEyes]

19. I bought a ticket.

I haven't bought a lottery ticket in 6 months or so.

[tammywammy]

26. I bought a few tickets Wednesday and I'll buy some tonight.

It's been years since I bought lotto tickets.

[passiveporcupine]

21. I don't gamble, so I don't buy lottery tickets

But if I won a lottery this big (I'm holding out for the 1.3 billions )..., I'd sure have a lot of fun helping people in need. And I'd give a lot of money to my on-line friends in need too. I'd probably start a special needs forum here on DU for people to post their needs (with some verification, of course) so I could help them.

Oh man...I just can't stop thinking of ways I could use money like that. This would really be so much fun. what a way to end my life...playing the millionaire". I used to love that show.

But I agree, it's crazy to let it get this big.

[El Supremo]

27. The only big winner will be the government.

At least with the Colorado Lottery GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) gets a big share.

[Earth_First]

30. A lot of good could be done with this amount of money...

I purchased three tickets with this very thought in mind.

Let's hope that this ends up in the right hands and spreads it's way around to those who could use a hand.

[Throd]

31. If I win, I'm going to get my truck repainted.

[gwheezie]

32. If I won 100k I'd retire

My threshold for how much I need to win to retire has been steadily decreasing over the years.

[Feeling the Bern]

37. It's like watching the insanity of finding the golden ticket from Willy Wonka

And failing to understand the probabilities below in the website.

But I guess a .000000003% chance of winning the jackpot is much better than zero.


http://www.durangobill.com/PowerballOdds.html