This Thursday Powerballs Jackpot Is 120m Do You Have a Ticket

So it is that time of year again when the lotto thread of fools and dreamers (myself included) comes around - simple poll do you have a ticket?

If you have a ticket list the first 5 things you are going to do if you take the 120m jackpot all to yourself

who if anyone would you tell that you won?

My Answer are
Yes

1.quit my job (in a nice way)
2. Pay off my house
3. Buy a holiday house(s) as well as some other commercial properties
4. Help family financially
5. Buy a car that pre jackpot I could never afford ie an M4 or C63 etc

Wife only everyonenelse will just magically have a few million gifted to them ie parents siblings etc

Last of All good luck!!!

Poll Options

  • 301
    Yes i have a ticket(s)
  • 316
    No i dont have a ticket
  • 86
    Not yet but I'm getting one

Comments

  • +27

    No ticket. Never bought one, don't see myself buying one in the future either.

    • +44

      Guaranteed you won't win then….

      • +14

        I'd give $10,000 to every commenter already in this thread.

      • +8

        Not guaranteed that you wont win if you dont buy…….you could find an unregistered winning ticket on ground.

        Sure that's unlikely, but so is if you buy a ticket.

      • +1

        Can't lose either! 😉

      • -1

        definitely did win at not spending money on an entry.

      • they could get a ticket gifted to them.

    • -1

      Thats right.
      Its that high because nobody wins

    • +6

      Essentially you have the same odds or winning as someone who did buy a ticket so good luck!

  • Which numbers should I select?

    • +30

      4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42

      • +1

        Thanks

        • +7

          i hope you like oceanic airlines old man

          • +6

            @[Deactivated]: Flight 815 ?

            • +1

              @jv: correct

            • @jv: Shoulda listened to you
              Power ball was 8
              One of the 7 numbers was 15

      • Check the manifest

      • Your point is not Lost on me…
        but Aussie Powerball doesn't go up to 42

      • I'll thank you when I win

  • Statistically, you are better off playing in jackpot games.

    • How so?

      • Chances of winning a prize are the same, but the because money is rolled over for the jackpot, your chances of winning more increases.

        • -4

          But also 3 times the people buy a ticket so less odds

          • +3

            @Geoff01: The jackpot still exceeds what the prize money would have been based just on ticket sales for this game.

          • +4

            @Geoff01: They will draw any possible combination regardless of whether a ticket was sold for that combination or not so your odds are the same.

            So with constant odds a higher prize makes your return better compared to the same game with a lower prize (regardless of tickets sold).

            Edit: Actually thinking about it more if someone else buys the exact same ticket as you then it does reduce your return at the prize is shared. So you'd need to work out the odds of that happening and work that into the equation so it could go either way.

            • +4

              @pav: I'll try and find it later, but there was some research on this done in the USA a few years back. It found that jackpots up to about 40 million would give you the best chance at winning a sole payout. Whereas over 40 million there were enough extra entries that you were more likely to share the win and therefore take home less than 40 million.

    • What? You pay the same amount for the same chance. Regardless of what the pot is. Gamblers logic always surprises me.

      • +1

        What? You pay the same amount for the same chance.

        Yes, you pay the same, same chance, but different prizes…

        ~Gamblers~ Factual logic always surprises me.

        fixed…

  • +9

    Pay off my HELP debt.

    • +12

      You could start your own university.

      • +2

        I could. But I'm happy with the one I work at

        • +7

          Buy them out make yourself the Dean

          • +6

            @Trying2SaveABuck: Hahaha you need way more than $120 million to buy out a university. And a doctorate in order to become the Dean.

            • +11

              @kerfuffle: Just bribe the dean and make them your puppet.

            • +10

              @kerfuffle: Buy yourself a doctorate

            • +1

              @kerfuffle: Honorary doctorate would do it, but why be Dean when you could be Chancellor?

            • +1

              @kerfuffle: Buy the dean. Make him your fancy puppet. You become the shadow dean, pulling the strings.

            • @kerfuffle: Buy yourself a university with black jack and hookers… in fact, forget the university.

              • -1

                @blorx: Why do you assume everyone here is a man?

                • -1

                  @kerfuffle: Not a Futurama fan either it seems… didn't know robots had a gender?!

  • +7

    It'd sure solve all my problems. But statistically the odds of winning are virtually zero so why waste the money on a ticket.

    • +11

      Tell that to the person who ends up winning it.

      • they are disproportionately likely to have bad things befall them after a win

    • +16

      Pretty sure a famous scholar stated "Mo Money Mo Problems"…

    • +4

      I am on a disability pension so don't mind buying the occasional ticket because it's my way of paying back the tax paying community that supports me; lotteries make people happy. Not many people win millions but thousands win thousands, and I'm contributing to that plus I'm in it just in case I win!

      • +6

        paying back the tax paying community

        How does this work?

        • +2

          because the lottery organisation gets taxed and the entry is beholden to GST - but only if we ignore the much larger wasted margins - costs that should have been spent on disability related expenses (or returned to the taxpayer directly)

        • It doesn't

    • +1

      I like to think I have a chance, 1 in 292,201,338 is still a chance!

      • +1

        The chance of winning the top prize is 1 in combin(35,7) * 20 = 134,490,400

      • -2

        That means if you 10 tickets, you are increasing your chance by x10

      • +3

        So you're saying… there's a chance?

  • +6

    Quit job, pay off mortgage and/or buy a better house. Buy a new car. Invest $110m.

    Most importantly, tell no one except my wife.

    • +17

      Tell your wife you only won $50m.

      • +4

        Divorce wife then tell her you won ~$150M.

    • +90

      “Honey, pack your bags, I just won the lottery!”

      “Oh my god, that’s incredible! What should I pack, clothes for the beach or snow?”

      “I don't care, just get out!”

    • i think some ppl would get sus if you suddenly did everything on your list

      • Only if they find out

      • +5

        Just tell them you finally sold all your crypto you bought 10 years ago.

  • +2

    Yes got a ticket. Only tell immediate family. Wouldn't quit my job. First thing I'd do is call my accountant, a lawyer and a financial advisor.
    And I'd spend nothing until I got that advice. $120m, invested correctly, should last my children's children's children at least.

    • +15

      I’ve got some bad news about those future generations, from the experience of just about every wealthy person ever.

    • Lottery winners don't know how to manage money. The majority of them blow it all way before they die with some even owing more than what they won.

      • +9

        Why do people keep spouting this as though it's a proven fact rather than just their illinformed opinion?

        If you look up a few of the studies that have been carried out on this topic you will find that the 'destroyed their life' result is very much in the minority. Yes, there have been the well publicised media reports of meltdowns and bankruptcies but they are the few rather than the rule.
        eg.

        https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24667/w246…

        "…large-prize winners experience sustained increases in overall life satisfaction that persist for over a decade
        and show no evidence of dissipating with time. "

        • +5

          Doesn't it make you feel better, as a non-winner, thinking that lottery winners live miserable lives?

        • +1

          overall life satisfaction that persist for over a decade

          A decade is nothing then it comes risk management.

          There is no such thing as generational wealth when it comes to lottery winners.

          • +3

            @rektrading:

            A decade is nothing then it comes risk management.

            Is there some reason for ignoring the last part of my quote? The bit about no evidence of it dissipating with time?

            Can you point me to some references that support your assertions about no generational wealth specific to lottery winners?

            • -5

              @Grunntt: Generational wealth is created by PoW.

              Not a single person on this list or Forbes 100/500 made the cut by winning the lottery.
              https://www.forbes.com/next1000/

              • +6

                @rektrading: So, by your logic, there is no-one who could possibly have created any wealth to pass on unless they are in those lists?
                You have a very warped idea of what constitutes wealth.

              • +3

                @rektrading:

                Generational wealth is created by PoW

                No, hitting a POW block only damages the enemies on the screen.

                Generational wealth is a stupid goal to work towards anyway. Much easier to simply be born into a royal family.

                Not a single person on this list or Forbes 100/500 made the cut by winning the lottery.
                https://www.forbes.com/next1000/

                Yeah, that's a list of entrepreneurs, so by definition it will contain entrepreneurs rather than lotto winners…

                showcases the ambitious sole proprietors, self-funded shops and pre-revenue startups in every region of the country—all with under $10 million in revenue or funding and infinite drive and hustle

                The Forbes 500 was a list of companies, so that wouldn't include them either, again by definition

                I can't find a definition or example of what the Forbes 100 is.

                But hey, there are no lotto winners listed on this post-it note next to my desk either!

        • I think that link was broken - here's the correct one

          https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24667/w246…

          • -2

            @Grunntt: I recognise a shill when I see it.

            Grunntt on 14/08/2021 - 14:08
            If you look up a few of the studies that have been carried out on this topic you will find that the 'destroyed their life' result is very much in the minority. Yes, there have been the well publicised media reports of meltdowns and bankruptcies but they are the few rather than the rule.
            eg.

            https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24667/w246…

            "…large-prize winners experience sustained increases in overall life satisfaction that persist for over a decade
            and show no evidence of dissipating with time.
            https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/10887239/redir

            People that work for powerball should ✔️ the I'm associated with.

            • +7

              @rektrading: Obviously another of your failings then.
              You have no reason at all for that accusation other than I am asking you for an actual reference to back up your opinions.
              Much easier to accuse the other person of bias rather than address the actual issue.

              Just to make it crystal clear for you - I have no association with powerball, the lott or any other business that you want to throw around as a diversion from your lack of ability to support your unfounded opinions.

      • Even if you spend $2million every year, it takes you 60 years to spend it all and if you have the rest invested while you spend, it will accumulate more from interest = taking longer to use it up

        • -1

          Interest is interesting. Where can people get some of that?

          • +1

            @rektrading: Even if the interest rate is 0.1%, you still make $100K per year if you have $100million sitting across different ba k accounts

            • @lunartemis: Parking $100M in bank accounts to earn +0.1% APY when inflation is +3.0% YoY sounds like something lottery winners would do.

      • Sounds like a good plan. You can't take it with you

        • You can take it with you anywhere. Just bring a really big duffel bag.

      • +1

        i have read something like 70% blew it historically,

        In 2002, construction boss Andrew 'Jack' Whittaker was already worth $17 million (£12.5m) when he won a whopping $113 million (£79.5m) after taxes on the Powerball multi-state lottery. Unlike other people on this list, Whittaker was no stranger to managing a multimillion-dollar bank balance and began organising extravagent donations and investments. But luck wasn't on his side for long. The Virginia native claims he was robbed multiple times in the early 2000s and three of his family members tragically died in just five years. As his personal life spun out of control, Whittaker failed to pay his debts and declared bankruptcy by 2007. According to TIME, he told reporters that he wished he'd torn his ticket up.

        • Thanks for that.

          Lottery winners who won millions, but lost it all
          lovemoney staff 31/12/2021

          From rags to riches and back again
          Believe it or not, statistics show 70% of lottery winners end up broke and a third go on to declare bankruptcy, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Runaway spending, toxic investments and poor accounting can burn through a lucrative windfall in next to no time. From (relative) rags to riches then back to rags again, read on for the stories of the lottery winners who found this out the hard way. All dollar values in US dollars.
          https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/lottery-winners-who-wo…

    • +5

      I never get the mentality of people who hold on to their jobs after winning massive jackpots. I'd rather spend that time with loved ones and also free up a job for someone else.

      • +2

        Probably depends if you really enjoy your job. I'd probably keep at least some form of part-time work, and do volunteer work.

        For many who have physically demanding, repetitive, or undervalued work, it would make sense to quit.

      • It's honestly more sus if you suddenly quit.

        Also, as I told my older coworker yesterday - he can quit/retire and no one would bat an eyelid. Plus, he has the savings. For me, I'm just starting my career so, makes less sense to do so. Plus, I like my job, and I remember having nothing to do for 2 weeks and I hated it.

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