# Have you bought a Mega Millions Lotto ticket yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954 "2011-03-25T12:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/1 "2011-03-25T12:31:38Z")
The multi-state Mega Millions lotto is over $300 million for tonight’s drawing, which usual draws in even those who normally don’t buy lottery tickets. Have you bought a ticket yet? PTF ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/2 "2011-03-25T12:37:44Z")
NO but thanks for the reminder. I’ll drop a nickel note on tix, using my #'s for two and easypicks for three. I’ll lose, but dream big! ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/3 "2011-03-25T12:42:34Z")
No, don’t play the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/4 "2011-03-25T14:10:20Z")
I tossed a fin into the office group that’s buying a big chunk of tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/5 "2011-03-25T14:13:36Z")
Not for tonight. Call me next week and we’ll discuss going in on Tuesday’s jackpot. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/6 "2011-03-25T15:15:49Z")
Yep. Bought mine yesterday at the gas station. Given current gas prices, I was willing to take a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/7 "2011-03-25T15:28:12Z")
Last weekend I bought a ticket for three drawings in a row, including tonight’s. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/8 "2011-03-25T15:33:22Z")
Nope, I don’t buy lottery tickets for myself. If I’m going someplace that sells them, my husband might ask me to get a couple of them, but he knows that I won’t put any thought into it at all. That is, I’m not gonna mess around with agonizing about the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/9 "2011-03-25T15:35:50Z")
I’ve gotten 1 of 6 numbers on a two occasions. That’s my record. I felt like I should have won, but there was no prize. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/10 "2011-03-25T16:29:32Z")
I bought mine yesterday, along with a ticket to Saturday’s California Super Lotto, worth $17M. Told the guy behind the register that if they both hit, I’ll give him the Super Lotto ticket. With a seventeen million dollar bribe on the line, I don’t see how I can miss! 😃 P.S. Speaking of so-called “taxes on people with poor math skills,” help me out: What is the statistical likelihood of me gettin’ my hands on that much money in one go using any OTHER method? ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/11 "2011-03-25T16:35:38Z")
I won $7 on the last Powerball ticket I bought, so I guess I’ll take two of those dollars and put one on another Powerball ticket and one on Megamillions. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/12 "2011-03-25T17:03:48Z")
I work at a C-store that sells them, but have been on vacation for about 10 days, so I had no idea it was so high. I’ll let my wife know, maybe she’ll drop a fiver on the way home. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/13 "2011-03-25T17:18:27Z")
I abstain from paying idiot taxes in general. (In before “omg I just play for fun, I don’t think I’m seriously going to win!” I’m not trying to take away the right of anyone to spend their money however they like. But I reserve the right to think it’s a stupid waste of cash ) ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/14 "2011-03-25T17:27:32Z")
We always buy a Powerball and a Megabucks ticket - one draw each for 20 drawings. What amazes me are the people who will stand in line for 5 hours when the prize is over $300 million, but not go anywhere near it when it is “only” $10 million - like that is chump change and they can go get a cash advance for that… Personally, I would be quite happy to win “only” $10 million the week after someone else wins the big one. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/15 "2011-03-25T19:00:20Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I abstain from paying idiot taxes in general. > > (In before “omg I just play for fun, I don’t think I’m seriously going to win!” I’m not trying to take away the right of anyone to spend their money however they like. But I reserve the right to think it’s a stupid waste of cash ) Your caveat aside, you could have phrased it something like, “I don’t play the lottery because I have better things to waste my money on,” and still made your point without sounding condescending or insulting to those of us who do play, or you could have simply repeated the lone cashew. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/16 "2011-03-25T19:40:30Z")
No…and this is exactly why. Everyone plays when the jackpot is up really high. I am so glad in some ways that the coworker that always played is gone, because I used to feel obligated to chip in a buck - and yes, it is a waste of a dollar to me - when it got really high, just for the sake of being a team player. Better to play it when it’s small, I think, and not as many people play it. If you must at all. And like rachel, I have nothing really against it. I just resent being pressured to buy one! ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/17 "2011-03-25T20:33:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Better to play it when it’s small, I think, and not as many people play it. If you must at all. This seems silly. You’d rather try to win $10 million by yourself instead of $300 million split a couple ways? I realize that your odds are vanishingly small either way, but if you’re going to bring math into it, at least go the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/18 "2011-03-25T21:27:20Z")
The odds are terrible I know, but I have to believe the best odds would be to put your money into the state lotto when it is within a few million of the mega type games. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/19 "2011-03-25T22:36:35Z")
I always buy one. So yes. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954/20 "2011-03-26T04:14:08Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > This seems silly. You’d rather try to win $10 million by yourself instead of $300 million split a couple ways? Maybe there are sixty people in the pool at work… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-a-mega-millions-lotto-ticket-yet/575954.md?page=2)