Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

[MineralMan]

It looks like everyone does. So, who's buying a lottery ticket for Wednesday.

18 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I will buy one ticket. 1% here I come!
	5 (28%)
	I will buy multiple tickets. The more the better.
	3 (17%)
	I don't buy lottery tickets ever. It's a sucker bet.
	4 (22%)
	One of the tickets I buy will be the winner - for sure this time!
	2 (11%)
	I never win anything.
	3 (17%)
	The PowerBall lottery is not available in my state. I won't be in.
	0 (0%)
	The PowerBall lottery is not available in my state. I'm travelling to buy a ticket.
	0 (0%)
	Other (Explanation?)
	1 (6%)
	I hate DU Polls!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[KingCharlemagne]

1. I picked "I never win anything" (other than Pyrrhic victories, that is :) - nt

[MineralMan]

9. I don't think there is a PowerBall seller in Asculum.

[KingCharlemagne]

18. LOL - Good one! - nt

[pinboy3niner]

2. If I buy a ticket, do I get snacks?

[leftofcool]

4. No but if you win you buy snacks for everybody.

I'll take mine in a rolling paper thank you.

[MineralMan]

7. Odds are you can pick up some snacks

at the same place you buy your ticket(s). I suggest your nearby convenience store. They'll have lots of snacks from which to choose.

[leftofcool]

3. I don't play the lottery so just give me the check

Increments of 100's and 20's will be fine thank you.

[MineralMan]

8. I can only afford one ticket, and that if I skip coffee today.

[Tom_Foolery]

5. My 84 year old father has never played the lottery in his life...

But now he's talking about giving it a try.

[MineralMan]

6. Tell him to take the lump-sum payment option.

He'll have to spend it as fast as ever he can, I think.

[Tom_Foolery]

10. Actually, he'd probably take the annuity...

He's in perfect health, so I expect him to live to be 114.

[tk2kewl]

12. just another example of our national priorities

We have enough to go around but no will to make the most of it

[L. Coyote]

13. Ya'll do know, winning a billion dollars turns a person into an instant Republican. Plus ....

Seriously, this is a gold mine political opportunity to discuss the distribution of wealth in the world, and how billions of dollars are accumulated by a few individuals.

It's the exact same process, everyone chips in and one person gets everything, except we slaves aren't eligible to become royals.[center]

[tammywammy]

14. I will buy 10 tickets

I hadn't bought any tickets in years until last Wednesday when I bought 10 and yesterday I bought 10.

[mnhtnbb]

16. I will buy 10 tickets too. Haven't bought one for 20+ years!

[MH1]

15. Now that it's rolled over, I intend to try to maybe buy a ticket before the next draw.

Of course I've had that same intention for awhile now, and still have't gotten around to buying a ticket.

I think on the one hand "it's a sucker bet" but on the other hand it is a voluntary tax. Allegedly in PA it supports services for the elderly. Before I rationalize it too strongly as a voluntary tax, I should probably check out where it's really going, but assuming what I've heard is correct, I really don't have any problem occasionally plunking down a couple dollars for that cause, and who knows? Maybe the thing's just waiting for me to buy my ticket.

[Hortensis]

28. Maybe that explains it, MH1. Or, could it be waiting for me?

I haven't bought a ticket in a decade and only then because I was getting change back and the guy at the gas station counter kept me waiting in front of the display.

I have to say, though, I feel like buying a ticket again. For a dollar (?) I'd have the fun of imagining what on earth I'd do with it. It got complex really fast last time, but now that the kids are in their 40s I think I'd worry a lot less about "ruining" their lives with money.

I actually strongly disapprove of funding our schools by soaking mostly lower-income suckers, but offended dignity doesn't rise to a religious principle. We'll see. Oh, good luck!

[NightWatcher]

17. Where's the "I don't buy tix because I'm better than all you stupid people" option?

For as little as $2 you can fantasize about all the good you could do, cars you can fit in your mansion's garage, family members you can help, places you can visit.... Or you can call people who like to dream, idiots because there's no chance they'll win.

Guess what, we all know we're not going to win, but for a day or two we can dream about changing our little corner of the world.

If you are so much smarter than the masses why are you wasting your time reading posts on the internet? You should be sniffing your smug little farts while you congratulate yourself on knowing how smart you are.

Ah, to dream...

[phylny]

22. Also, eventually someone who thinks

they won't win will

[phylny]

19. We never buy but I may. Here's a question:

How do you do it?

[MineralMan]

20. Walk into any PowerBall lottery outlet,

plop down $2 and say, "One Quick Pick please."

Couldn't be easier. Do buy a snack or something from the store, though. They depend on your business.

[phylny]

21. Thanks! n/t

[MineralMan]

23. No problem. To locate your nearest

PowerBall sales location, go to this link:

http://www.powerball.com/powerball/pb_map.asp

[Rex]

24. If I win I promise to send Blue Tarp Guy a Ghilli suit.

Or a thumbdrive to save all the porn he is downloading on the government machines.

[MineralMan]

25. There you go!

I was thinking of sending him a plane ticket to someplace warm. Maybe Medellin, Colombia. A one-way ticket, natch. I hear they like guns there, too. Maybe he can make some friends.

[emulatorloo]

26. Gonna be a hefty bill once you pay airfare for his gazillion kids.

[MineralMan]

27. Hell, I'll have over $1 Billion. If he promises never

to come back, I'll charter a plane for him and his family.

[laundry_queen]

29. I can't buy a ticket

stuck here in Canada. Or I would buy a ticket. Just because someone has to win. Might as well have a ticket. Just in case.

Not that I'd WANT to be a billionaire. I'm guessing given the choice I'd much prefer winning a modest 5 million to retire on and mind my own business and not have my photos splashed all over the place. But all things being equal I'm certain being a billionaire with my face splashed all over the news is a more comfortable existence than broke single mother of 4 who is working her ass off and gets paid squat.

[gvstn]

30. I do.

But the jackpot would have to be 3 billion.

At current interest rates you get about half the listed amount if you take cash and then pay taxes. Just look at whatever the jackpot is listed as and figure you get a third of that if you want cash.

[Android3.14]

31. 11 tickets

Fair bet = 1.3 billion X (1/292,000,000) = $4.45

Or about 2 and a quarter tickets. We have 5 in our household, so we are buying 11 tickets.

[MineralMan]

32. May the odds always be in your favor!

[Android3.14]

35. As a proponent of the Many Worlds model, favor has nothing to do with it

There is no reason to hope nor reason to fear, as all outcomes occur.

Therefore, making decisions based on hope or fear is a poor strategy when approaching your interaction with reality.

The only way to increase the chance that your perceptual node is moving through a population of "positive" realities is to resolve to make bold decisions that have few negative predicted outcomes.

Backing Bernie Sanders is another example of making bold decisions that have few negative predicted outcomes.

[dannybee]

33. I've played the lottery quite a few times. Even with the high-prob stuff, I've never won a cent.

but i still bought 4 tickets today

[MineralMan]

34. As they say, you can't win unless you're in.

I don't play the lottery often. I tend to buy into these huge jackpot ones, though. It's entertainment. It's not often I get a chance, no matter how small, to wonder what I'd do with all that money.

I won't win. That's almost certain. But, I'll check my numbers, anyhow. Why not?

[restorefreedom]

36. once in a while i buy tickets to lottery

but one billion? its obscene. think of the amount of money in ticket sales PLUS the value of the prize itself

how many hungry children would that money feed tonight?
how many animals could be rescued off the streeets?
how many bridges could be repaired?

and on....

it is now a freak show of grotesque greed. but hey, american exceptionalism, right?