# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/41 "2012-03-30T20:39:10Z")
With the post-tax payout (in NJ) at 251 million. That’s one serious governemental cash grab. ---
**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, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/42 "2012-03-30T21:09:47Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > With the post-tax payout (in NJ) at 251 million. That’s one serious governemental cash grab. Now you know how the 1% feels. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/43 "2012-03-30T21:13:36Z")
There was more than a dollar’s worth of change by the washing machine this morning, so I decided to get one. It wasn’t money I was using anyway. I have no expectation of winning, but the thought is nice. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/44 "2012-03-30T21:30:17Z")
I bought thirteen bucks worth of tickets. To my knowledge, I think this is only the second time I bought lottery tickets. Possibly the third. I feel slightly dirty for doing so but, what the hell. For the shit I spend a few bucks on, might as well give it a try. ---
**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, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/45 "2012-03-30T21:45:07Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > 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. My formula for determining the most likely number of winners includes “you” in the pool of potential winners, but you are not necessarily one of them. The probability of nobody else winning = (1 - the probability of winning) raised to the power of (the number of tickets everybody besides you bought). The probability of winning is 1/175,711,536; if you accept a conservative estimate of 800 million tickets sold (which would make the most likely number of winners 4 instead of 5), there is about a 1/95 chance of nobody besides you winning. This means you have about a 1 in 16.7 billion chance of winning the entire jackpot with any particular ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/46 "2012-03-30T21:46:23Z")
Today at work we helped a group of people photocopy $600 in tickets. Silly. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/47 "2012-03-30T21:51:23Z")
I always look at playing the lottery as a donation to the government, like paying extra taxes. It does go to benefit good things, so, there you go. Do I want to win? Of course. But first and foremost, playing the lottery is like donating to a good cause. ---
**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 30, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/48 "2012-03-30T21:56:33Z")
They don’t have the lottery in my state so I had to get my fiancé to buy some tickets for us. If she/we win I’ll have to buy a plane ticket and marry that girl pronto. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/49 "2012-03-30T22:08:56Z")
Yeah, I did. I know exactly what’ll happen: some retiree in upper New York or a group of mechanics in Wisconsin will win and I’ll get bupkis, but it’s nice to dream. On the same day that I got some (additional) tickets, I had a successful job interview (temp to hire possible, no less), which has 175 million times better odds of changing my life than the damn lottery, but I’ll accept both. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/50 "2012-03-30T22:30:48Z")
Nah. I prefer the challenge of the scratch-off tickets. I haven’t bought a single lotto ticket since moving to the States, now that I think about it. Would I even be allowed to keep my big winnings if I’m not a US citizen? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/51 "2012-03-30T22:33:46Z")
I bought 5 quick picks this evening. The way my luck goes, I probably won’t even hit 3 numbers… ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/52 "2012-03-30T22:35:28Z")
We really should have done an SDMB lotto pool. If nobody wins the jackpot tonight (though they probably will) who’s up for one? ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/53 "2012-03-30T23:04:07Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > We really should have done an SDMB lotto pool. If nobody wins the jackpot tonight (though they probably will) who’s up for one? I started a fake pool [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646841). Give me 10 numbers, and let’s rock ‘n’ roll! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/54 "2012-03-30T23:42:51Z")
I bought into the pool at work. They have 800 tickets. I never play the lottery, but I figured I’d feel like an idiot if half the office were multimillionaires tomorrow and I wasn’t in on it. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/55 "2012-03-30T23:43:37Z")
We rarely buy lotto tickets, but today hubby came home with $10 worth, plus $15 in scratch tickets. The scratchies were a bust, so, we’re _sure_ the mega-millions will give us a win. Drinks for everyone, if we do! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/56 "2012-03-30T23:54:08Z")
I typically buy 2 Powerball draws a week, but I picked up 5 draws for Megamillions too on hearing about the jackpot. I sincerely doubt I’ll win, and if I did I’d have to share it with some syndicate that bought 100,000 tickets or something, but what the hell. Honestly I’d just be satisfied with $10,000, never mind several hundred million. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/57 "2012-03-31T00:08:42Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > 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! You can in Illinois, I think. It’s up to 640 million now I heard. I bought 3 tickets. I only did it because my sister asked me to, but I’d just as soon she win anyway. I know she’ll share. Good luck everyone. If I win, I’ll share with my favorite dopers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/58 "2012-03-31T00:52:07Z")
[https://www.myillinoislottery.com/en-us/games/megamillions.html](https://www.myillinoislottery.com/en-us/games/megamillions.html) I’m currently out on a boat in the gulf of Mexico. What would happen if I bought an online ticket that won? ---
**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 31, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/59 "2012-03-31T01:19:46Z")
You poor chumps. Not a single one of you thought to call “dibs,” did you? Thought not. 🆒 I’ll be in touch with the admins, and we’ll discuss how to accommodate my new-found notoriety without sacrificing the simple homey just-plain-folksiness of the **kaylasdad99** that you have all come to know and love over the past 12.5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/60 "2012-03-31T01:33:38Z")
I tossed $5 into the office pool. I know the odds are zero, but I was ‘one of the team’ and all that. I don’t even know what I’d do with the millions that would amount to my share. I only need to hit ~$250k to have enough money for just about forever. I really don’t know what I’d do. I’ll give away half. Who wants to be friends? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273.md?page=4)