# Best/worst superpowers to become anonymously rich **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [March 16, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048 "2021-03-16T22:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/61 "2021-03-18T16:32:20Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I suppose that they would likely ask you to submit to some sort of search of your body for magnets or something, and investigate the table and dealer before they paid out, but if they couldn’t find anything amiss, they’d just chalk it up to extremely good fortune on you part. I imagine it depends on how much money the table is making overall. At 1:1 odds, you’re going to make a bit over a million dollars if you start at a buck and let it ride every time. But a lot of fallacious gamblers are going to be betting black, confident that there’s no way in hell it’s going to come up red again. The casino might actually come out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/62 "2021-03-18T16:48:47Z")
They also have the story of the guy that won a million, starting at $1, and a whole new flock of gamblers descending for them to fleece. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/63 "2021-03-18T17:00:01Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I suppose that they would likely ask you to submit to some sort of search of your body for magnets or something, and investigate the table and dealer before they paid out, but if they couldn’t find anything amiss, they’d just chalk it up to extremely good fortune on you part. They’re probably going to conclude, “He’s cheating, we just don’t know how.” Which would be enough to protect you from legal trouble, but not enough if the casino decides they really don’t like the idea of you walking away with that much of their money. I think the best way to super-power cheat at a casino (short of choosing Superman powers and just ripping the door off the cash vault) would be to have luck manipulation powers - and then use them in a casino to make not just yourself, but dozens of random other people hit big jackpots at the same time. The casino will know something’s up, but they won’t be able to pin it down to one person very easily. Also: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/d/d1ce0b3ede061eddd34c2092d6174eca27b4c5f2.png) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/64 "2021-03-18T17:11:33Z")
I think precognition is the go-to superpower. It’s useful in so many ways to get money. You can win a minor lottery, $50-100k, for your initial stake and hardly anyone will know your name from that. You can bet sports, horse racing, and unless you have some way of cheating at a sports bet, the betting halls will most likely keep taking your bets, especially now that they’re big companies. You can play cards, roulette, keno, to supplement that income. You can invest in the stock market and pull that hot stock early in its life. Once you get a nice sized stake, from a variety of sources, the market alone will earn you enough to be very rich. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/65 "2021-03-18T17:18:35Z")
The key here is to occasionally make bets and investments that you know will fail so you have plausible deniability that there is anything suspicious going on. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/66 "2021-03-18T17:43:23Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > and soon you’re a millionaire. A millionaire? I thought we were talking about **rich**! Ah, well… if you have superpowers becoming rich is usally no longer the goal anyway. Superpowers are not a means, they are a goal on their own. Only the baddies use superpowers to an end, and it always ends badly for them. That is how you know who the good ones and the bad ones are. A very important and unusual power for becoming _anonymously_ rich is the power of discretion. Tell anyone, and you’ve blown it. Almost everybody does, sooner or later. So the worst superpower is loquacity. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Ok, I’ll just stick with the ability to turn nothing into gold and gemstones then. Tell me more about King Midas. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/67 "2021-03-18T18:12:26Z")
You can win the lottery in Australia and stay anonymous, also seven states in the US allow it (Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and South Carolina). So precognition or psychokinesis even for a minute would do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/68 "2021-03-19T07:36:41Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > ou can win the lottery in Australia and stay anonymous, also seven states in the US allow it (Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and South Carolina). > > So precognition or psychokinesis even for a minute would do the trick. The UK too. We’re still in the Euromillions jackpot - it’s often around £24million. Tax-free on the initial winnings, too (in the UK; the stake is taxed instead). I suppose the big winners are known within their circles, but none of them are anywhere near famous. To avoid even that level of fame, you could claim you’d actually won whatever one of the smaller prizes was, say a couple of million, buy safe homes and investments, and then give the rest away - well, most of it. Or you could just choose to actually win just a few million, though that wouldn’t make you filthy rich as per the OP. It sounds too easy but, MaxTheVool, I think that’s it. Not all megalotteries require the winners to out themselves. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/69 "2021-03-19T22:29:44Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > - super-programmer - write the next ten HUGE software programs > > The above do not meet the requirement for anonymity, but you won’t attract negative attention. Hah! Ask Bill Gates whether being a wealthy super-programmer attracts negative attention. ROFL! ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/70 "2021-03-20T09:38:45Z")
True enough, but Gates soon went in for marketing rather than bit-twiddling. Few outside the industry know who actually wrote the killer programs of the past, so you can be pretty anonymous if you wish. Gates chose to adopt a high profile, more so in recent years with his work in the medical field, which inevitably attracts controversy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/71 "2021-03-20T10:35:59Z")
Superman here, sitting in West Virginia, squeezing coal into diamonds for a few days. Most are junk, some are awesome! I’ll take the awesome ones and sell them. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/72 "2021-03-20T15:32:48Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Could you win $5K and walk out of a casino without anyone caring? Sure. But if you want, say, $50M to be able to really be set-for-life rich in a mansion somewhere, that’s a LOT of winning at roulette. At which point, it’s really just a job. And remember… you’re lazy. I have a friend who flies to Vegas for poker, and sometimes he’ll brag about how much he made in a week. But one time we grilled him on how long it took to make his thousands… “Well, I’d play all day, and there were three all-night games and I got to know these locals so we went right from an all-nighter to one guy’s ranch for a long day of Hold’Em…” Turns out, he basically made $30/hour, and never relaxed, walked around, swam in a hotel pool, or saw the sun. So I think I’d pick a non-casino superpower… ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/73 "2021-03-20T15:53:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Superman here, sitting in West Virginia, squeezing coal into diamonds for a few days. Most are junk, some are awesome! I’ll take the awesome ones and sell them. It seems like that would risk attracting a lot of attention, though (even more so than selling one’s own kidneys repeatedly). Blood diamonds and all that… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/74 "2021-03-20T16:05:40Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > It seems like that would risk attracting a lot of attention, though (even more so than selling one’s own kidneys repeatedly). Blood diamonds and all that… Diamonds aren’t really traceable, the only famous blood diamond merchant was named De Beers, I can literally fly anywhere for free and sell my wares, and if I attract the _wrong_ kind of attention… well, I’m Superman. Have at it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/75 "2021-03-20T18:05:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > …if I attract the _wrong_ kind of attention… well, I’m Superman. But I took the point of this thread to be that you’d have _one_ power. Superman has so many… heck, [Silly Silver Age Supes](https://blog.paxholley.net/2011/07/04/1-of-supermans-most-absurd-pre-crisis-super-powers/) had super-ventriloquism, super-brain-surgery-skills, super-disguise ([face manipulation to an absurd degree](http://images.paxholley.net/blog/superman/supes_shape_shifting1.jpg)) and of course the always-crucial _super-weaving!_ [![](https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2014/03/super-weaving.jpg) ](https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2014/03/super-weaving.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/76 "2021-03-20T19:59:24Z")
True. I’d still have superman strength and do the diamond thing. Just take some to EZ Pawn and get a few hunny! ‘Naw, these aren’t hot. Just warm from the squeezing process.’ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/77 "2021-03-21T19:41:40Z")
The USA spent $150billion last year fighting forest fires. Frozone could make short work of those, and although I’m sure the government contracting officers would talk him down quite a bit, he’d still make nine figures per year for a few days of work. The real problem here would be enforcing the Non-disclosure Agreement. If he finds himself well known and on call for every big fire the world over, he would work himself to a breakdown within two years. He would have to insist upon compartmented classification for his contract. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/78 "2021-03-22T15:33:41Z")
When we say anonymously rich, what does that mean? Completely unknown to the public at large, or just not known to have powers? Is the hypothetical person the only super individual, or are powers known to exist? If you start a business, that becomes successful because of your powers, does it count as anonymous? Eh, I’m still gonna go with super-luck. That or elemental transmutation. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/79 "2021-03-22T16:37:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Superman here, sitting in West Virginia, squeezing coal into diamonds for a few days. Most are junk, some are awesome! I’ll take the awesome ones and sell them. Nerd question…would Superman squashed gems be as valuable as naturally mined gems or would they be the equivalent of lab-made gems? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048/80 "2021-03-22T17:18:34Z")
I assume they’ll be BETTER! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-superpowers-to-become-anonymously-rich/938048.md?page=5)