# What's up with all these lottery threads? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861 "2016-01-11T23:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/101 "2016-01-14T04:50:31Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > For that additional several hundred billion, I don’t think so much of what I could own but who I could pass the money on to–my kids, important causes, etc. The idea of helping the needy with a billion dollar charitable trust is very appealing I admit. (I would be concerned about giving kids and relatives TOO much money.). But the risk is too great. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/102 "2016-01-14T04:57:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But while the additional marginal utility of the extra money is minimal, the RISK is huge. If I win the $50 million Lotto Max I will be unknown in the USA and even in Canada will be forgotten within a week by anyone who does not already know me. There have already been lots of Lotto Max winners for tens of millions and nobody remembers who they were. Avoiding scammers, thieves and jerks will take some work but with good planning we can avoid the typical pitfalls. If I win the Powerball, I will be _continentally_ famous and a target for every criminal out there. My children will be targeted for kidnapping. Hackers will seek to blackmail me. The number of people who will come begging will be orders of magnitude higher. The trouble outweighs the extra money. Hah! I just had virtually the same discussion with a co-worker. I don’t want to win $1.3 billion, I want to win $20 million. I’m not going to win either of course, but I would never even bother playing at this level of a media circus. I want to remain as anonymous as possible, rather than end up as an easily googleable wiki entry. That would be a nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/103 "2016-01-14T12:02:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But the marginal value of all the money from $50 miillion to $1.2 billion (using Canadian dollars) is next to nothing. … The first $50 million will change my life a hundred times more than the next billion. One rigorous approach, popular among both mathematicians and professional gamblers, to cope with this effect is to seek maximum **Expectation** [logarithm(Total\_Wealth)] rather than maximum **Expectation** [Total\_Wealth] I’m afraid those hoping to justify their $2 lottery investment will be disappointed to learn how humongeously large the jackpot would need to be before the $2 investment becomes mathematically sound using this so-called Kelly Criterion. Still, as **Eonwe** points out, for many of us the $2 ticket is a far better use of funds than spending it on potato chips. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/104 "2016-01-14T15:48:26Z")
There was an article in the local paper today about the Powerball in South Dakota and one interesting point it made was that you cannot remain anonymous here. Some states you can though, it didn’t list which ones. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/105 "2016-01-14T15:54:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Hah! I just had virtually the same discussion with a co-worker. I don’t want to win $1.3 billion, I want to win $20 million. I’m not going to win either of course, but I would never even bother playing at this level of a media circus. I want to remain as anonymous as possible, rather than end up as an easily googleable wiki entry. That would be a nightmare. I can see the appeal of that, certainly. But I look at it from the other way. Will a $20 million dollar winner have the insane media circus that would come from a $1.3B win? No. But… 1. There were three winners last night, netting them each a cool $300M pre-tax. That’s still not the largest single winner which means this media storm will blow over much quicker than would otherwise be expected. 2. Unless you are really really good, or very prepared, you’re not going to hide this win from your family and friends. Yes, you’ll have to worry about random psychos. But everyone does. The biggest threat is going to be your cousin’s cousin’s cousin who is now your best friend and his truck broke down. 3. It seems strange, but with $20 million, a charitable heart, and poor money management skills, your winnings will go very very quickly. That seems strange, I know. But lots and lots of lottery winners go broke because $100,000 here and there adds up. With $300 million? $900 million? You can set up some very lucrative trusts for everyone you want and STILL have plenty left over for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/106 "2016-01-14T17:43:55Z")
I don’t see the problem with it. Sure, winning less might mean less headache, but the benefit of winning is still high enough to offset a lot of trouble. It just means the benefit is less. But, I mean, with that much money, I hire someone whose job is to handle all the additional downsides for me. They answer my phone calls and forward me the good ones. They set up outside my house and keep people away. They talk to the media for me. Heck, maybe even they pretend to be me (after I’ve gotten the money, of course) and get a stipend. Not that I’m buying a ticket. My expected value may be higher than I pay, but there won’t be enough repetitions for that to matter. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/107 "2016-01-14T18:02:12Z")
It would take a hell of a lot of initiative to piss away $300 million. You’d have to really TRY. At least if you were just buying crap for yourself and not trying to save the world or back every harebrained business scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/108 "2016-01-14T18:06:33Z")
If I won it solo, and lived exactly another 30 years, I would need to spend 60 thousand dollars a day to use it up by the time I doe. That is a challenge I could have met! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861/109 "2016-01-14T19:50:24Z")
If I had been the solo winner, I would have set myself up like Sheldon Adelson, and announced that I would spend whatever it took to elect the Republican presidential candidate of my choice. Then I would have had them visit me like they do Adelson, make them sign a “non-disclosure form” that had a tiny clause giving me permission to film and tape the meetings, and extracted all kinds of promises from them. And then I would have given the tapes to Hillary and Bernie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-all-these-lottery-threads/742861.md?page=5)