# Mega Lottery. Buying a ticket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273 "2012-03-30T14:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/21 "2012-03-30T16:35:20Z")
Yeah, we bought 3 tickets. I don’t think we’re going to win but it’s worth the $3 for the ability to have a few fantasies about the things we would do with that much money. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/22 "2012-03-30T17:00:13Z")
I bought 10 tickets. Tune in next week to see if I won! ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/23 "2012-03-30T17:17:00Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > I doubt I would buy one if they were on sale across the street with no line. . My lotto store is indeed right across the street from me and there was no line last night when I bought mine. If there had been a line I probably wouldn’t have bothered ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/24 "2012-03-30T17:19:26Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I’m a little surprised so many people here and on other threads mention participating in office pools. I like my co-workers for the most part, and can generally trust that if I buy lunch today, they’ll pick it up in the future or whatever–not sure I’d trust them with hundreds of millions of dollars. I guess that’s where the “How to find a lawyer” thread comes into play. Around here when people get into a pool they give every one a copy of the tickets so there’s no funny stuff. No one asked me this time around so I just got my own. ---
**Author:** ![Tracyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tracyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracyfish)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/25 "2012-03-30T17:27:20Z")
I gave to the lottery pool at work. I had bought some of my own but then contributed them to the lottery pool as well. Might as well try! ---
**Author:** ![Tracyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tracyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracyfish)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/26 "2012-03-30T17:30:16Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Around here when people get into a pool they give every one a copy of the tickets so there’s no funny stuff. No one asked me this time around so I just got my own. That’s what the person running the office pool where I work did. We all received an email with the scanned tickets last night along with the numbers from any tickets that anyone had already bought and contributed. She sent out a spreadsheet of everyone and included information on how it would be split as well. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/27 "2012-03-30T17:30:17Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > I’ve never purchased any lottery tickets, and I can dream about what I’d do if I were to ever win the lottery without spending any money on a ticket. I know you can’t win if you don’t play, but the odds against winning are so huge that I figure I’ll spend the buck on something else and just imagine how I’d spend some big bucks if I had them. Buying lottery tickets is built into my personal entertainment budget, next to buying movie tickets. I rarely win (hit a couple of $100 payouts), but I figure a buck or two a week does give me a greater than zero chance of winning. It’s worth it for the entertainment value. Cheap at the price. Cheaper than movie tickets, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/28 "2012-03-30T18:25:50Z")
I’m in for $5. Worst that can happen is that I’ve overpaid for a bookmark. It’s not as if I’ve never done that before. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/29 "2012-03-30T18:35:23Z")
Sure, for the first time I got some tickets. It’ll be fun with money I can afford to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/30 "2012-03-30T19:25:06Z")
My husband bought into the pool at work. It’s the first time he’s played the lotto since I’ve known him. You can’t win if you don’t play! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/31 "2012-03-30T19:34:00Z")
No. I don’t see that sort of money as solving any problems that I have, and it could sure as hell make some worse. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/32 "2012-03-30T19:35:21Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > I’m in for $5. Worst that can happen is that I’ve overpaid for a bookmark. It’s not as if I’ve never done that before. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a book mark. My wife buys the lottery tickets around here (she really, really hates her job). She wasn’t aware of the Mega thing (she plays Powerball), but when I told about the payout she took the kid’s car to the gas station to fill it up and get a ticket. I’m pretty sure she’ll share. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/33 "2012-03-30T19:40:27Z")
For once, the EV of a lotto ticket is greater than 1. So yeah, I’m playing. I’ve given $2 to the office pool that has 10 numbers. Somehow the guy running the pool rooked people into just giving money and picking numbers without any regard for who gave how much, so I paid 1/9th of the pool for 1/7th of the ‘shares’. I think people didn’t realize how easy it would be to determine who got how much, so they just disregarded the math altogether. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/34 "2012-03-30T19:47:26Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > For once, the EV of a lotto ticket is greater than 1. How did you figure that? Remember, the probability of you winning the entire jackpot = the probability that you have the winning numbers multiplied by the probability that nobody else does. Based on the current projection, the most likely number of winning tickets is five. (I posted a proof on another board that says that the most likely number of winners pretty much equals (the number of tickets - 1) x (the probability that any particular ticket wins), rounded down.) I bought one ticket, but not (necessarily) to win the jackpot; I intend to keep it as a souvenir of the drawing if it doesn’t win more than, say, $2. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/35 "2012-03-30T19:48:01Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I’m a little surprised so many people here and on other threads mention participating in office pools. I like my co-workers for the most part, and can generally trust that if I buy lunch today, they’ll pick it up in the future or whatever–not sure I’d trust them with hundreds of millions of dollars. I guess that’s where the “How to find a lawyer” thread comes into play. As was mentioned the only real way to do an office pool is to give copies of the tickets to everyone participating so no one can claim that the winner was from one of thier private ticket. It would be very hard to fight that. > [@](#): > > I bought 10 tickets. > > Tune in next week to see if I won! We can’t wait that long! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/36 "2012-03-30T19:53:29Z")
I play a few dollars each week. So - yes. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/37 "2012-03-30T20:16:53Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > How did you figure that? Remember, the probability of you winning the entire jackpot = the probability that you have the winning numbers multiplied by the probability that nobody else does. Based on the current projection, the most likely number of winning tickets is five. (I posted a proof on another board that says that the most likely number of winners pretty much equals (the number of tickets - 1) x (the probability that any particular ticket wins), rounded down.) > > I bought one ticket, but not (necessarily) to win the jackpot; I intend to keep it as a souvenir of the drawing if it doesn’t win more than, say, $2. I’m just guessing. But I think your formula is off. You’ve got to move the 1 outside the equation, like: (the number of tickets) x (the probability that any particular ticket wins)-1, rounded down. If you’re one of the winners, then there’s one less winner to share it with. Your win cancels the “alternate universe” wins of 175 million other ticket-holders. There are also lower prizes, like the $250,000 one for missing just the megaball, for which there are 3.8 million combinations. So that’s another 8 cents to add to the EV just for that prize alone, not an insignificant bonus, I don’t think. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/38 "2012-03-30T20:17:28Z")
I’m in with a pool at my office. Fourteen of us kicked in $5 each. I never go to Vegas or to casinos or play football pools, so I figure $5 once every year or two is no big deal. My husband also bought $5 worth on his own, so of course we’re hoping that that’s the ticket that hits. I have my private wealth manager and law firm all picked out. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/39 "2012-03-30T20:21:17Z")
Is there any way to buy tickets online? Not sure I’ll get out today; if so, count me in for a ten-spot. Daydreaming is fun! ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/40 "2012-03-30T20:28:52Z")
Cash payout is now 462 million. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273.md?page=3)