# I am going to p!ss off 319 million Americans... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973 "2016-01-12T22:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Doremro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Mr.Doremro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Doremro)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/21 "2016-01-13T01:58:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I’m surprised they even let foreigners play/win. Has it always been that way? Do you buy the tickets at a local gas station or do you have to like, mail order them or something? If we can get away with having an international lotto run by the U.S. Gov, they should be capitalizing on that more. Imagine if everyone on the planet bought a ticket - bam, $14 billion pot instantly! So if I travel to Vegas, spend thousands of dollars and win something I should be paid in White Castle hamburgers as I am not a citizen??? Whatever!! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/22 "2016-01-13T05:24:42Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I’m surprised they even let foreigners play/win. Has it always been that way? Do you buy the tickets at a local gas station or do you have to like, mail order them or something? They don’t sell to people _in_ other countries. There are some places that claim they’ll take your money online and buy a ticket for you, but they’re not sanctioned by the lotteries. There are lots of foreigners in the country right now, though, with access to _our_ gas stations. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/23 "2016-01-13T06:19:58Z")
> [@Mr.Doremro](#): > > I read that earlier today. Despite that being on par to the law about bringing Kinder Surprises into the US (ie batsh!t insane) I think there would be enough workarounds to figure it out. Come down shortly before sales close on Wednesday night, buy the ticket, then wait around till after the drawing. If you won, then get a room until the state lottery office (or wherever you claim winnings) opens. If you’ve already bought a ticket and taken it home, then I don’t know what you can do. Maybe the penalty is a fine. If so I’m guessing that it’s much less than 1.5 billion. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/24 "2016-01-13T06:59:52Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Aussie Aussie Aussie! We’re in on the action! I bought my ticket last night. Do you know how many boomerangs I could buy for $1.5 billion? Crikey! I’m buying mine tonight! Wanna go halvies in a boomerang business? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/25 "2016-01-13T08:05:16Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > They don’t sell to people _in_ other countries. There are some places that claim they’ll take your money online and buy a ticket for you, but they’re not sanctioned by the lotteries. > > There are lots of foreigners in the country right now, though, with access to _our_ gas stations. True enough. I’m close enough to the US border that I could run down and buy a ticket in the US. I’m not going to–I’ll make do with our $5M+ prizes up here. 😃 (I’m actually not sure what I’d do with US$1.5B, even after taxes.) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/26 "2016-01-13T08:40:19Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I’m buying mine tonight! Wanna go halvies in a boomerang business? > > 😃 Sounds like someone up thread might be able to hook us up with some sticks. We’ll just need a bending machine, and we can turn that billion into some serious money. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/27 "2016-01-13T09:21:57Z")
I hope no Aussies used the link kindly provided in the media. I assume that [Lottoland](https://www.lottoland.com.au/) is either owned by, or paying kick backs to the people touting it. They can certainly afford to charging $14 per ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/28 "2016-01-14T01:52:06Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Well, according to a news article I read, there might be a [complication](http://globalnews.ca/news/2449198/how-a-u-s-law-could-prevent-canadians-from-collecting-on-a-powerball-win/) if a Canuck wins. Arguably, it’s not a lottery ticket after the lottery has been won. And for that amount of money, you might be able to find someone to argue it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973/29 "2016-01-14T02:13:21Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I hope no Aussies used the link kindly provided in the media. I assume that ] is either owned by, or paying kick backs to the people touting it. They can certainly afford to charging $14 per ticket. It appears to me that posting that URL is illegal in most parts of Australia. Also, (not my legal opinion) it appears that payment would be unenforceable. At least, I don’t see any evidence of Aus licensing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-going-to-p-ss-off-319-million-americans/742973.md?page=1)