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I'll pay my dumbass tax & drop $10 on it.
It's up to 325 Mil, can't win if you don't play.
I'll pay my dumbass tax & drop $10 on it.
My parents play it. I have my Dad get me a ticket once in awhile. Now is one of those "Once in awhile" times.
Exactly. I hardly ever play. Only when the winnings are big.
Yeah, I'll be making a donation to the eventual winner today!
It sure would be nice to get even a small piece of the winnings.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Undeterred by the miniscule odds, people were lining up Friday for a chance to score the estimated $333 million Mega Millions jackpot.
The odds really are microscopic. You have a one in 175,711,536 chance of winning. That's a 0.0000006% chance.
Still, since tickets are just $1, and the jackpot payout is double the odds of winning, if a person bought all 176 million combinations, he or she would be guaranteed to win at least $157 million.
So playing the Mega Millions on Friday could make sense ... if you could afford to spend $176 million on tickets. Bear in mind, that only works if there is a single winner who doesn't take a lump sum payout.
The 12-state lottery anticipates hundreds of millions tickets to be purchased before the 11 p.m. ET drawing Friday night for what will be at least the third-largest U.S. lottery jackpot of all time. The New York Mega Millions branch said it expects ticket sales to eclipse $1 million per hour starting with the noon hour on Friday.
"This is a huge jackpot," said Jennifer Givner, spokeswoman for the New York Mega Millions. "There's a lot of excitement about it, and we probably made a conservative estimate of the jackpot."
Mega Millions guarantees its jackpot, so it could go even higher, depending on the number of ticket sales. In fact, Mega Millions raised its jackpot estimate by $8 million on Friday based on stronger-than-expected sales.
Sander Sharman, who owns the newsstand on 9th Avenue and 57th Street in New York said Mega Millions sales have been overwhelming. The line for lottery tickets was out the door.
"It's never been anything like this," said Sharman just before 1 p.m. ET on Friday. "We usually do 1,200 sales in a day, and already we have 4,200."
All of that business is good news for retailers like Sharman. Lottery retailers get a 6% commission on all sales and a $10,000 bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.
How it works. After the drawing, the 12 participating states begin to count up their tickets and check to see if there is a match. Winners get about 50% of the pool, with roughly 35% divided between the state coffers and 15% going to lottery retailers and administrative costs.
If there is a winner or multiple winners, the states will likely know by early Saturday morning, according to Givner. If not, the money is returned to the pool and the game continues with an even higher jackpot.
That's been the case for the last 14 bi-weekly drawings -- no one has hit the nail on the head. But some have come close: On Tuesday, 17 Pepsi Bottling Group employees in Albany, N.Y., split a ticket and guessed right on five of the five numbers. But they missed the final Megaball number, and split just $250,000.
The last jackpot winner was on July 7, when a former New York City Transit employee won $133 million. The jackpot then went back to its base of $12 million.
When is the next drawing?
i was wondering how it went from 325 to 333Mega Millions guarantees its jackpot, so it could go even higher, depending on the number of ticket sales. In fact, Mega Millions raised its jackpot estimate by $8 million on Friday based on stronger-than-expected sales.
Tonight, and I just bought 10 tickets. It's worth it just to be able to fantasize about winning if only for a short while.
yeah, me and my buddies all buy tickets and fantasize over a few beers how we would hook eachother up and what we would do with the winnings.Tonight, and I just bought 10 tickets. It's worth it just to be able to fantasize about winning if only for a short while.
my plan:
Hire a financial advisor (I dont want to blow it away like so many other winners)
drop a few million on Spurs charities.
Hook up Kori and LJ to keep the site going for the long term to ease up on their other financial responsibilities.
Open up a business.
Stay in the same house Im at but really fix it up nice, maybe buy the neighbors property and extend it.
Buy a kick ass trailer or RV from B2B.
take a year or two to travel the united states in said RV then the world with friends, giving them a nice cut of the winnings to quit their jobs and encourage them to open their own businesses.
Buy a getaway house in Ibiza
All of that will probably cost me under 50-75 million, I'd still have quite a bit left to invest, plus have my business bringing in cash (I've got an idea for a bar in San Antonio that hasnt been done yet and Im not telling, I dont want my idea stolen.Lets just say I'd be ing banking during the summer months
)
Last edited by phyzik; 08-28-2009 at 07:24 PM.
356 million on Tuesday.
Insane how large it is now. You could buy your dream home and not even make a dent in your annual salary (assuming you get the payments which I would).
Group of 24 people from work each put 5 dollars in last weeks. We won 2 dollars. 8 cents for us all!
I will, I always buy a ticket when I get gas. Usually just 1-2 dollars, but I do 5 bucks a pop when it's over 100 mil. I once got 4 + mega, came out to a little over 2 grand so I got back what I spent over the years
It hasn't been this high for a long time, though. I might put down 10 when I fill up on monday. If I won that, I'll go crazy with 10 mil and probably invest the rest in property or maybe a hedge fund.
I'll be throwing down a few bucks this week.
That is quite a jackpot...I think it was like 290 for the last one o.o? Imagine if no1 wins this week...it'll go up to like 400 mill lol.
Might get a few tickets...it'd be sick to win all that...
How does the "annual salary" thing work?
IMHO a person would be nuts to take the payments. In this current low interest and low tax environment you can get $255 million up front instead of the 30 years of payments. Only costs you 100 million gross and you can easily make that and more back over 30 years. Inflation and taxes are guaranteed to go up...cash out now, pay your taxes and all your earnings from here on out get taxed at 15% cap gains rate instead instead of 40%+.
Probably drop a $10 on it tonight...
I'll be grabbing a few tickets on the way home from work tonight. If you hear about a guy in Houston who spelled out, "I QUIT", in bags of flaming dog poo in front of his office you'll know who won it.
Tomorrow the cash value option after tax is nearly $200,000,000
I would be absolutely shocked if no one wins the jackpot... though I've thought someone would win the last few times. Usually when it gets this high a lot more people play and someone wins. I'll be playing.
It would be a shame for you not to be able to spend that money if you land in jail for attempted arson...
People as rich as I'll be don't do jail. My $1000/hr lawyer will explain that I was exhausted and/or dehydrated, I'll donate some money to whatever fund for firefighters, whatever judge's re-election fund, and maybe do a little community service.It would be a shame for you not to be able to spend that money if you land in jail for attempted arson...
That's a whole lotta moola but to much for me..
I'm not greedy. As long as I've got my health, and my millions of dollars and my gold house and my rocket car, I don't need anything else.
the lottery. Those of you who play are a bunch of pathetic mindless sheep. Work harder and save better.
Shut up, got.
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