# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/61 "2012-03-31T01:39:03Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I really don’t know what I’d do. I’ll give away half. Who wants to be friends? I’ll let you know after tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/62 "2012-03-31T01:41:54Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > 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. I don’t think the EV of the ticket is greater than 1. Players spent 1.5 billion on lottery tickets this week, but the payout is only 600-something million. Add to that, the possibility that none of the numbers will hit, and you’re well below the EV 0.5 range. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/63 "2012-03-31T01:52:06Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I don’t think the EV of the ticket is greater than 1. Players spent 1.5 billion on lottery tickets this week, but the payout is only 600-something million. Add to that, the possibility that none of the numbers will hit, and you’re well below the EV 0.5 range. No. It is. There are only so many possible numbers, and that figure is well under 600 million. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/64 "2012-03-31T03:16:33Z")
Darn-I lost. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/65 "2012-03-31T03:20:10Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > No. It is. There are only so many possible numbers, and that figure is well under 600 million. But the value of the ticket is not determined exclusively by ticket cost vs. chance of your numbers being drawn for 650 million. The value of the ticket is also affected by the chance that other people will also pick the same numbers you do, diluting the value of your ticket. Think about it…how could the expected value of the ticket be 1, if 1.5 billion tickets are sold but only 650 million is being distributed? It’s impossible! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/66 "2012-03-31T03:36:53Z")
My “hold out my hand and wait for the winning ticket to float into it” strategy seems to not have paid off. How did the rest of you guys do? ---
**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, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/67 "2012-03-31T03:56:15Z")
I got one number. One. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/68 "2012-03-31T03:56:46Z")
I matched 3 numbers on one ticket. Do I at least get back my investment? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/69 "2012-03-31T06:08:33Z")
> [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > I matched 3 numbers on one ticket. Do I at least get back my investment? Was one of the numbers the mega ball? If so, you get $10. If not, you get $7. Good job. Infinitely better than I did. ---
**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 31, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/70 "2012-03-31T12:51:31Z")
Three tickets won, and one of them was in Maryland. **FairyChatMom** , are you off talking to lawyers? Can I get a loan? ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/71 "2012-03-31T12:58:02Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Was one of the numbers the mega ball? If so, you get $10. If not, you get $7. > > Good job. Infinitely better than I did. Thanks. I never play, and had no idea if 3 numbers meant anything. Woo Hoo! I’m up $5! Now I can…well, I guess I can buy a gallon of gas or something extravagant like that. ---
**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, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273/72 "2012-03-31T21:57:19Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My “hold out my hand and wait for the winning ticket to float into it” strategy seems to not have paid off. How did the rest of you guys do? _SOME_ people don’t seem to grasp the concept of “dibs.” Dammit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mega-lottery-buying-a-ticket/617273.md?page=3)