Winning a $340m lottery would be a nightmare!

Iamme

Philosopher
I
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Aug 5, 2003
Messages
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I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.

Nope.

I won't even play the lottery out of fear that I could win, and this could then force my hand, like a test from the Almighty, to see just what I'd do with all that money.

What would I expect of myself to do? To give 1/2 of it to charity/churches? Would I turn away all the phone calls from all the victims of Katrina, Rita and mudslides and tsunamis?

What would I do when the phone calls would start to come in from people who tell me they have cancer and had strokes and heart attacks and had 6 operations and gave birth to a deformed child and they are $275,000 in debt to the hospital?

Would I feel secure anytime there was a knock at my door late at night? Would I have to glue a set of eyes on the back of my head?

Nah. *YOU* go win that cursed money. Not me!
 
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If so, please give me a measly $5 million. I promise to squander every penny.
 
Iamme said:
I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.
Click to expand...

That's not entirely true ... by playing the lottery you invest a small amount (the price of a ticket) which by itself is not much, but when added to all the other contributors goes to whatever the local establishment has allocated. You earn your chance of winning it all in a manner no different than that of everyone else -- and everyone accepts the game as played (or they wouldn't play it). If you should become the sole winner of millions it's yours -- you earned it fair and square by playing the game. You took a risk (however small your chances of winning) with that knowledge going into the game. It's in no way a gift as you played the game -- no one came to you out of the blue and said "Here's $10 million dollars -- have fun!"

Now, what you do with it can really make the difference in showing everyone what kind of person you really are -- a feat you might never be able to do on your regular income. Think about that. Think of how you might benefit mankind with vast amounts of capital at your disposal instead of having to hope some company will offer you the opportunity.

Now go and win those millions!
 
Iamme said:
I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.
Click to expand...

Oh, I do.

I have as solid a work-ethic as anybody. But I've been unpaid and underpaid for enough of it that I don't think that it would ruin the planet for me to have some free money.

Besides, with that much money, I could actually do something to improve the lives of other people.
 
Iamme said:
I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.

Nope.

I won't even play the lottery out of fear that I could win, and this could then force my hand, like a test from the Almighty, to see just what I'd do with all that money.

What would I expect of myself to do? To give 1/2 of it to charity/churches? Would I turn away all the phone calls from all the victims of Katrina, Rita and mudslides and tsunamis?

What would I do when the phone calls would start to come in from people who tell me they have cancer and had strokes and heart attacks and had 6 operations and gave birth to a deformed child and they are $275,000 in debt to the hospital?

Would I feel secure anytime there was a knock at my door late at night? Would I have to glue a set of eyes on the back of my head?

Nah. *YOU* go win that cursed money. Not me!
Click to expand...

Moron
 
Iamme,
So, you don't gamble? Buy a lottery ticket? Go to a casino and throw money away? You must be a moron just like me. I was at TAM2 in Vegas and didn't gamble 1 cent.
I must be a moron.
Just because I know that Blaise Pascal designed the gambling systems at Monte Carlo so the house always wins in the long run, that makes me a moron.
Hang in there and say hello to your buddy in Eau Claire.
 
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According to CNN.com, the odds of winning this particular lottery are one in 146 million. Now if the payout is $340 million, wouldn't that make buying EVERY SINGLE COMBINATION worth it?

I have never played myself, so I don't know how many numbers there are in this drawing to choose from (and so can't verify their odds), but even if you only bought half the combinations, you'd still have a 50% chance of winning with only an initial investment of, oh, about $73 million. Right?

I seem to remember hearing that someone tried this once for a lesser pot - it was worth buying all possible combinations for. I heard they didn't manage to buy all the possibilities in time for the drawing, but got lucky with the ones they had managed to buy.

Of course, if you have $73 million lying around anyway, you probably wouldn't gamble it on a 50/50 shot. Or would you?
 
Oh, and I'll take that dirty money any day. I know a few good causes that could use it ... mostly the 'send eri to central america for christmas' cause and the 'buy eri a new violin' cause.
 
eri said:
According to CNN.com, the odds of winning this particular lottery are one in 146 million. Now if the payout is $340 million, wouldn't that make buying EVERY SINGLE COMBINATION worth it?
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People have set up large syndicates to do this sort of thing in the past. Unfortunately I can't remember the details, but I don't think they had to spend $146 million dollars to do it.

Their biggest worry was that they would go to all the trouble and expense and then have to share the jackpot with someone else.

Edited to add: Yes, of course I'd take the money, you'd have to be an idiot to refuse it. If you were a hedonist you could live a life of Riley. If you were a philanthropist you could do so much good.

I've heard people say strange things like "I wouldn't let it change my life", too. Why are you playing, then?
 
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eri said:
According to CNN.com, the odds of winning this particular lottery are one in 146 million. Now if the payout is $340 million, wouldn't that make buying EVERY SINGLE COMBINATION worth it?

I have never played myself, so I don't know how many numbers there are in this drawing to choose from (and so can't verify their odds), but even if you only bought half the combinations, you'd still have a 50% chance of winning with only an initial investment of, oh, about $73 million. Right?
Click to expand...

You have omitted some very important issues:

1) You may very well be guaranteed a winning ticket by purchasing all possible combinations (if it could in fact be done) -- but what if another person has a similar ticket? Now you must split the pot in two. And if there's a third? The bigger the payoff the greater the chances of this happeneing since there will be many more tickets purchased. It's a catch 22 -- the smaller payoffs prevent you from doing it because the pot's too small. The bigger payoffs prevent you from doing it because you're likely to have to split the pot -- again making it too small.

2) You must deduct all taxes before you consider the true payoff. This gets worse for multiple winners as just mentioned above. Plus, most big payoffs are paid out over time -- a lot of time. Still worth it to get your money back in small bits at a time?

3) Buying only half the possible combinations is insane! Think not? Go to some legal casino and bet $500 on black at a roulette table, if you've the nerve. If you hesitate with $500, think of doing it with $73 million.
 
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This is weird. Moments before I saw this thread I handed $2 to a cow-orker who was heading out to buy Powerball tickets. I now have two tickets in my hand. But don't worry Iamme, if I win I promise not share it with you.
 
If money is a curse, CURSE ME WITH IT, OH LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Curse me till I'm dead and buried in my solid gold casket!
 
Originally Posted by Iamme :
I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.

Just thinking:
That's not entirely true ... by playing the lottery you invest a small amount (the price of a ticket) which by itself is not much, but when added to all the other contributors goes to whatever the local establishment has allocated. You earn your chance of winning it all in a manner no different than that of everyone else -- and everyone accepts the game as played (or they wouldn't play it). If you should become the sole winner of millions it's yours -- you earned it fair and square by playing the game. You took a risk (however small your chances of winning) with that knowledge going into the game. It's in no way a gift as you played the game -- no one came to you out of the blue and said "Here's $10 million dollars -- have fun!"

Iamme:
Ya, but........even though uyou took the chance and made the "investment", the investment in relation to the payoff is soooo lopsided that you may as WELL call it a gift from heaven.

Just thinking:
Now, what you do with it can really make the difference in showing everyone what kind of person you really are -- a feat you might never be able to do on your regular income. Think about that. Think of how you might benefit mankind with vast amounts of capital at your disposal instead of having to hope some company will offer you the opportunity.

Iamme: I already addressed the PROBLEMS...the turmoil that I would go through by having to decide what to do with al that money based on feeling the guilt that I'd have to give so much of it away, or feel like some greedy heel of a person. By not playing, and hence not winning, I don't have to go through that torment. :). Besides, I could give let's say everything but $50,000 away and all it would take is one loon who wouldn't believe I did, and blow me away after I told him I didn't have any (big) money anymore to dole out to him. No thank you. Currently I can walk down dark alleys feelign pretty good. But after winning such an amount?; forGIT it.

Just thinking:
Now go win those millions!

Iamme: Be my guest. Good luck.
__________________
 
Jeff Corey said:
Iamme,
So, you don't gamble? Buy a lottery ticket? Go to a casino and throw money away? You must be a moron just like me. I was at TAM2 in Vegas and didn't gamble 1 cent.
I must be a moron.
Just because I know that Blaise Pascal designed the gambling systems at Monte Carlo so the house always wins in the long run, that makes me a moron.
Hang in there and say hello to your buddy in Eau Claire.
Click to expand...

Jeff, I don't think people that DO take small petty chances (buying one or a few tickets) on the lottery are doing anything bad. It's their choice. As long as they aren't going hog wild and spending so much of their money that they put their family's financial affairs in some sort of disarray.

*I* don't do it , especially for these big lotteries, for the reasons I stated. And for the chump change lotteries I still don't play because of more like what you talk about.

You aren't a moron though, by choosing not to gamble. But neither are those who DO gamble. At least those that can afford to.

We all know that the odds are stacked against you. But at the same time, we all know that somebody has to win.

I will tell Dave EC that you give him your regards. I just did and he said, "Hi Jeff." :)
 
Originally Posted by Iamme :
I dont' want to earn my money that way.

I want to invent something, or problem solve, to help mankind and feel good where I got all my big money from. Not some 'gift' that befell ME and not others, where *I* became stinking rich, while others who slave away and get dirty everyday, who may go from paycheck to paycheck, while *I* get to live like a king, for not having to have lifted a finger.

Nope.

I won't even play the lottery out of fear that I could win, and this could then force my hand, like a test from the Almighty, to see just what I'd do with all that money.

What would I expect of myself to do? To give 1/2 of it to charity/churches? Would I turn away all the phone calls from all the victims of Katrina, Rita and mudslides and tsunamis?

What would I do when the phone calls would start to come in from people who tell me they have cancer and had strokes and heart attacks and had 6 operations and gave birth to a deformed child and they are $275,000 in debt to the hospital?

Would I feel secure anytime there was a knock at my door late at night? Would I have to glue a set of eyes on the back of my head?

Nah. *YOU* go win that cursed money. Not me!

The Central Scrutinizer:
Moron


Iamme:
But I think I am a pretty SMART moron. :)
 
eri said:
According to CNN.com, the odds of winning this particular lottery are one in 146 million. Now if the payout is $340 million, wouldn't that make buying EVERY SINGLE COMBINATION worth it?

I have never played myself, so I don't know how many numbers there are in this drawing to choose from (and so can't verify their odds), but even if you only bought half the combinations, you'd still have a 50% chance of winning with only an initial investment of, oh, about $73 million. Right?

I seem to remember hearing that someone tried this once for a lesser pot - it was worth buying all possible combinations for. I heard they didn't manage to buy all the possibilities in time for the drawing, but got lucky with the ones they had managed to buy.

Of course, if you have $73 million lying around anyway, you probably wouldn't gamble it on a 50/50 shot. Or would you?
Click to expand...

You are correct. I too remember when that person won buy buying up 50% or more of all the possible combinations.

Ya...you'd think Donald Trump or someone would do that very thing you suggest. But I suppose he figures it be HIS luck that there would be like a 10-way split of the take, and he'd lose millions.
 
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