# I won i won **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378 "2009-10-28T00:28:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/21 "2009-10-28T02:05:42Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Well what the hell can he blow it on? I say blow it all on travel! Every penny! Since someone’s got to be the first to say it, I vote for blowing it all on the classics–hookers and blow. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/22 "2009-10-28T02:10:15Z")
Congratulations, **Wildfire\*MM**. I’m trying to save $170K by not buying lottery tickets, but it’s a slow method and doesn’t have a lot of pizazz. By the way folks, **Wildfire\*MM** doesn’t live in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/23 "2009-10-28T02:11:08Z")
> [@Hirundo82](#): > > Since someone’s got to be the first to say it, I vote for blowing it all on the classics–hookers and blow. Yes, but one $100,000 hooker, or ten thousand $10 hookers? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/24 "2009-10-28T02:13:23Z")
I’ve gotta ask - what make a $100,000 hooker worth $100,000? ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/25 "2009-10-28T02:13:30Z")
Be wise and careful with most of it, but do something you really want to do with some of it. Congratulations! Want a new BFF? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/26 "2009-10-28T02:20:18Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Depending on your state taxes, about $100-110,000. I have to say it really sucks that lottery winnings are taxed in the USA. Here in England, if you win £170,000, you keep every penny of that £170,000 ad the government gets precisely jack shit. Which is as it should be. (Well, until you start spending or investing or donating or gifting it, of course…) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/27 "2009-10-28T02:21:21Z")
OMG, you could buy soooo many more lotto tickets with all that money, and you’re totally on a lucky streak too! GO FOR IT! YOU CAN’T LOSE! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/28 "2009-10-28T02:27:56Z")
You could spend most on hookers and blow, and then waste the rest. (shakes fist at **Hirundo82** ) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/29 "2009-10-28T02:30:04Z")
Uh, this wasn’t one of those E-mails saying something like,“You are a winner of the Bid Board promotion, held in Johannesburg South Africa”, or suchlike, was it? And no, I don’t think I’d quit my job for $170 grand, unless maybe my job was cleaning out pub toilets, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/30 "2009-10-28T02:33:13Z")
Don’t quit your job. Put it in the bank for a month while you figure out how best to manage it. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/31 "2009-10-28T02:39:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve gotta ask - what make a $100,000 hooker worth $100,000? The wedding ring. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/32 "2009-10-28T02:45:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve gotta ask - what make a $100,000 hooker worth $100,000? You get to kiss them.._on the lips!_ ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/33 "2009-10-28T02:47:35Z")
Congratulations, [You Lucky Bastard.](http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/lottery-winners/) ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/34 "2009-10-28T03:21:51Z")
Spend it on stuff, and you’ll have a lot of cool stuff that will eventually wear out and break. Spend it on fun, like travel, and you’ll have some great memories to look back on when you’re back working in two years. Invest $100,000 in safe, sensible stuff, and you’ll be able to retire very early, and have years and years to do what you like. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/35 "2009-10-28T03:28:56Z")
Congratulations! Go on a nice holiday to somewhere inexpensive like Cuba. Stash yourself on a beach for a week, and think it over. Then pay off debt, and otherwise do what **Chimera** said. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/36 "2009-10-28T05:03:27Z")
Final piece of advice: now that you’ve won, stop “investing” in the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/37 "2009-10-28T05:07:36Z")
Don’t quit your job, and don’t go wasting it. I agree with the other posters who suggest you shouldn’t do anything except pay off your debts until you have some sort of plan. > [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Do remember that you get tax deductions for mortgage payments, so don’t run to eliminate those right off the bat. This is wrong on two counts. First, a tax deduction is always smaller than the spending for which it is claimed. Deliberately prolonging an expense in order to claim a tax deduction will always make you worse off. Second, assuming money used to pay off the principal is _also_ tax deductable, you would want to claim as much of the tax deduction as possible in the year in which your marginal tax rate is highest: the year you won the lottery. Not only would you get the tax deduction _sooner_, it would also be a lot bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/38 "2009-10-28T06:30:12Z")
Wildfire, this is terrific news! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/39 "2009-10-28T14:34:07Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > The wedding ring. You win the forum. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378/40 "2009-10-28T16:52:07Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Final piece of advice: now that you’ve won, stop “investing” in the lottery. Well, that could be a matter of debate. There have been many cases of people winning lottery multiple times. A few years ago, a couple in California won one of the lottery games on Wednesday, and won the larger lottery game on Saturday. In NYC, there was someone who won three times. There have been many other cases where this has happened in other states and countries. Statistically, your odds don’t really change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-i-won/515378.md?page=3)