slo’s MONDAY 11/7 poll - Powerball Playing

[RedAngie]

I’ll pick the numbers 1-2-3-4-5 and powerball 6.

Same extremely remote chance as any other set of numbers.

 

[disneychrista]

I lost $2 on Saturday that was enough for me.

 

[Babs Johnson]

I forgot to get tickets last time. Today I'll make a point of buying $20 of random numbers.

You never know.

 

[Skywalker3]

DH has been buying regularly, rarely misses a drawing, for many years. yes, definitely playing this time, sometimes picks own numbers, sometimes quick pick, sometimes both

 

[mrodgers]

My coworker came around again today. I asked if he'd give me a quick run through of his job as I gave him my last $5 on Friday. I didn't realize they added a Monday night drawing. I thought it was Wednesday and Saturday.

 

[mamamary]

We never play. I was actually thinking of picking up a few tickets today when I went shopping but I totally forgot.

 

[fly girl]

When jackpots are huge we will play Poweball or Mega Millions.

Otherwise we only get scratch tickets every once in a great while.

 

[amylevan]

We only play when it gets huge, and it’s just when a group at DHs work forms to buy tickets. He always says he doesn’t want to be the only one left at work because the groups won and he didn’t join.

But he’s now wishing someone will win so he can stop throwing money away until the next time it’s huge.

 

[scbruno]

We play at work. we have a group that goes in.

 

[bcla]

Usually I'll buy one just for the entertainment value, and I'll look at what the prize money is. I don't think it's that great when it's right back to the base amount. The other thing I look for is the 5 of 5 without the bonus number prize (PowerBall or Mega number). That's not an annuity, and in California everything except the jackpot is pari-mutuel with carry-over (the jackpot is that way in a pooled manner with all participating states). Unlike most other states where 5 of 5 is a fixed $1 million, in California it goes up or down (when someone wins and the pool of funds goes to the prize) and I've seen it as high as over $5 million or even under $50,000. And it's odd too as that number stays relatively high even after the jackpot is won - until someone hits that.

I've also heard of some weird things having to do with the fixed prizes in most states. Some have had poor performance in certain periods because there were an inordinate number of $1 million winners and they had to draw from a reserve account for the payouts. Not sure what happens if they tap out a reserve account.

But for this draw I'll probably buy 3 tickets. Just allow the machine to pick the numbers.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My aunt buys a ticket when it gets nuts factor big like now. Otherwise she sticks to buying scratch-off tickets weekly.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I cannot help but think what it would be like to win, but I never buy tickets.

 

[KayMichigan]

My sister and I go in on tickets whenever the jackpots get big. We just buy one ticket.

Thanks to the increase of the number of balls they use, it now takes much longer to get a winning ticket so the jackpots get huge. It's possible the jackpot could get to two or even three billion if nobody wins for another few weeks or months.

And actually, lotteries are older than America itself. There are ads in Colonial newspapers for lottery tickets!

 

[bcla]

The drawing was delayed and won't take place on Monday. There's no reporting on which lottery has the issue that's holding up the drawing.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1589831989955551233

 

[bcla]

My sister and I go in on tickets whenever the jackpots get big. We just buy one ticket.

Thanks to the increase of the number of balls they use, it now takes much longer to get a winning ticket so the jackpots get huge. It's possible the jackpot could get to two or even three billion if nobody wins for another few weeks or months.

And actually, lotteries are older than America itself. There are ads in Colonial newspapers for lottery tickets!

The odds are 1 in 292 million. There's always the chance, but it's frankly rare that it would ever get up to over a billion. Not impossible obviously, but there's a reason why it's considered a record.

Once the interest gets so high, there's likely going to be more tickets sold per drawing than 292 million. Of course that isn't a guarantee that someone will win, but some might be able to figure out the odds that someone WON'T win.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I will buy a couple of quick cards for big jackpots Less than a bet on a blackjack hand or pull on a slot machine. I know folks who have six figures wins (another seven) one won huge jackpots twice in the same year twice can't win if you don't play.