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640 effing million

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by JackReacher, Mar 28, 2012.

Page 17 of 30
  1. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    I probably wouldn't play regardless, but I'd want to see the strict math. I think there's times when the jackpots get big enough that it becomes a +EV situation (ignoring the utility of different totals of money).
     
    RickStain, Mar 30, 2012
    #193
  2. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    Some of you are so pragmatic about this. Don't you do things just for the hell of chasing a dream, damn the odds?
     
    jr/shotglass, Mar 30, 2012
    #194
  3. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    With that attitude she might make a decision about you keeping a wife.
     
    93Devil, Mar 30, 2012
    #195
  4. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    For me, bad financial decisions are kind of like an alcoholic slipping up with one drink. One drink, or in my case casually spent dollar, leads to 15 and I look at how much money I threw away at the end of the month and it usually started with deciding to buy something I didn't need. Or in the case of a lottery ticket, gambling a dollar on the odds of me being struck by lightning twice today.

    I like being able to fund my IRA fully every year. It gives me a better feeling than the escaping joy of a lottery ticket.

    The notion of compound interest gives me a warm, tingly feeling.
     
    Brian, Mar 30, 2012
    #196
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I will cross that bridge when we win our $600 million jackpot tonight.

    I'm really worried.
     
    Dick Whitman, Mar 30, 2012
    #197
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Buncha coolers, I tell ya.

    I'm feeling so left out here in Florida. We still have live Jai-alai, for Pete's sake, yet I can't buy a MegaMillions ticket.
     
    playthrough, Mar 30, 2012
    #198
  7. MTM

    MTM Well-Known Member

    Dick, let's hope this doesn't happen to you:

    A woman bursts into her house and yells, "Pack your bags, Honey, I just won the lottery!"

    He says, "Oh, wonderful! Should I pack for the beach or for the mountains?"

    She replies, "I don't care ... Just get the hell out!"
     
    MTM, Mar 30, 2012
    #199
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Almost the way the notion of grossly undervalued assets gives me a warm, tingly feeling.

    It would be quaint if lotteries (not just this one pot, all the lotteries in this country) amounted to people chasing dreams in a harmless way. But they are way more destructive than that. There was something on Bloomberg a few weeks ago that was just sad.

    Here is a link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/georgia-lottery-players-suckers-spending-most-for-least.html

    People in this country spend more than $50 billion a year on state run lottery games. Those games offer the worst odds of any form of legalized gambling in the country.

    In some states, including Georgia and Massachusetts, in the aggregate, the people spend more than 1 percent of their income on lottery games. The biggest victims are poor people, who can least afford it, put play those games disproportionately.

    I realize when you get a big pot of money like this mega millions, it is fun, and I get it. It's a dollar. As I said, I waste dollars on stupid things for entertainment every day. But there is a reason why this is only the second time in my life I have ever bought a lottery ticket. In my head, I really see myself just pissing away that dollar. It took a lot to overcome that to buy the ticket.
     
    The Big Ragu, Mar 30, 2012
    #200
  9. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    I know a mutual friend of ours who drove two hours round trip to buy one. :)
     
    imjustagirl, Mar 30, 2012
    #201
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    He really did, huh? Impressive. The machines on the Fla/Ga state line must have smoke coming out of them.
     
    playthrough, Mar 30, 2012
    #202
  11. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Well, he CLAIMS he did. He probably just found a poker game over the border.
     
    imjustagirl, Mar 30, 2012
    #203
  12. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Okay, what would I do? Has anyone said 1,280 chicks at the same time?

    My dream would be to hire a live-in chess coach and just pursue the game completely full time. Study and practice all week, fly around to the big tournaments on the weekends.
     
    RickStain, Mar 30, 2012
    #204
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