quick! this is new to me!! Do I double-down? or quit while I'm ahead?

[northernlights]

I started buying a weekly scratch and lottery ticket a couple weeks ago, instead of buying a sandwich on Fridays. :dunce:

I won 2 $2 on megabucks (last week and week before). Cashed them for 2 more megabucks, plus did my new weekly scratch and got my free scratch while food shopping.

WHOA!!!!! I just won $30 on the state scratch...and $1 on the free supermarket scratch?!?!!!!!

So, do I run back to the store and pick up more? Or wait until next Saturday? :think:

I'm new to this (winning, and winning a lottery). Last time I won a lottery was church bazaar when I was 14 -- won a trip to Greece. My parents frced me to turn down the $800 another church member offered and give the gift to my sister to "save her marriage." They threw away the trip and the marriage was doomed. x(

So, anyway, here I am 40+ years later and I just won $31...I don't know what to do?!?! Mad money? Buy more tickets NOW? While I'm HOT? Or quit while ahead?!? :think: :think: :think:

decisions...decisions...

[RandomThoughts]

1. Flip a coin to decide if you should gamble on buying a ticket

:)

[Edweird]

2. Quit while you're ahead. They count on you to re-invest more in an attempt win bigger.

You've won all you're likely to win this round. The key to successful gambling is to walk away with small sums - going for the 'big score' often fails and can be costly as well. The euphoria you experience when you win is something they use against you.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. +1

[Ezlivin]

3. The last few times I hit large jackpots

Uh, wait a second... Who am I kidding?

I've never won a damned thing.

Never mind. Carry on.

[madmax]

4. A bird in the hand.........yada yada n/t

[red red red]

5. Personally, I would...

buy $10 more tickets and keep the rest - but thats just me - May not be the smartest thing to do, but it would make me happy! :applause: Good Luck in whatever you choose!

[northernlights]

6. phew! thank you. you're right. about that euphoria thing...

it's been a long time. :smoke: goes to your head so quick.... :silly:

Yup. I guess it's like playing the stock market, which I've never done. But from what I read, you need to keep your emotions out of the roller coaster ride and stick to your game plan. Which, in my case, was buy a scratch and megabucks/week instead of a sandwich. I've lost several pounds, had fun scratching the peely stuff off and matching numbers up AND so far I've pretty much broken even doing it.

Sitting down and booting up was a good thing to do. I'm too comfortable now to get up and drive back to the store...except the thought just occurred to me...:donut:

[Ian David]

7. I'd keep your winnings and just buy one $2 ticket each week if you enjoy it. n/t

[Warpy]

8. The odds are with the house

and it's a piss poor way to try to make money. Your best bet is to quit while you're ahead. The house hates that. If you must pretend you're on some sort of streak, spend a buck on a megabucks lottery ticket.

Never risk anything you're not prepared to lose, in other words.

Gambling addiction is chasing the rush you get when you win. It's a chemical addiction. Since you get that same rush if you win on a dollar bet as if you'd bet everything you own, why not stick to bets you can afford?

[northernlights]

10. what I'm actually doing is...

milking the rush for all it's worth, sharing it with anybody who cares to indulge...while indulging myself in a lazy hour sitting in front of my puter "window shopping" when I should be weeding. Except my dogs disagree...I should be walking them and buying them many,many cookies.

I have $31 in found money. I can set it aside for groceries...hmmm I just realized it's within pennies of today's grocery bill..., I can play with some of it, I can play with all of it.....6 scratch tickets or 15 megabucks tickets or 3 scratch tickets and 8 megabucks tickets or 3 scratch tickets, 4 megabucks tickets and an iced coffee and donut from dunkin donuts, or 7 bags of dog cookies.....:9

And I still have tonight's megabucks ticket...so much excitment...in case it's not obvious, it's been a while since I had any fun...

[notesdev]

9. The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math

I'll leave it at that

[Edweird]

15. I don't see how it's any different than playing roulette - the wheel is just much bigger.

If it's your retirement plan to 'invest' in tickets - then yes, that's idiotic. But a dollar or two here and there because 'you never know' isn't harmful or stupid. I'm a blackjack man myself (I always quit when I'm ahead and never let myself get 'down' past certain limits - I have no problem walking away on bad nights or good nights) but I'll occasionally drop by the roulette table just for grins. I'll play the lottery every now and then as well - but I have plan that I am working very hard on that doesn't involve gambling wins.

[LoZoccolo]

16. Except that roulette has a 5.26% house advantage while lotteries usually have way more. n/t

[Edweird]

17. True, but that's in line with the significantly higher payout.

I don't see any roulette tables where a $1 be can net you enough to retire comfortably on.

[LoZoccolo]

20. Actually, I am talking about the payout.

Take the three-digit lottery for instance. If you win, you only get $500, five hundred times your bet, but the true odds are one out of a thousand. The house has a 50% advantage! I imagine scratch is even worse. There are some rare times in multi-state lotteries where the payout is actually better than true odds but you don't have enough time to buy all the tickets for every combination.

Sure, a $1 lotto ticket could get you millions, but your odds of winning are much less, and more importantly, when you do win you get a far worse payout than true odds.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. buy 31 more tickets. lol

[HopeHoops]

13. Save the cash- Wait to be hit by lightening & bitten by a poison snake as hot air balloon crashes.

Your odds are far better with that scenario than they are at making anything on the lottery in the long run.

[pinboy3niner]

18. Years ago, I had a great opportunity to teach my young son about 'odds'

He was very excited about sending in an entry coupon from the back of a cereal box to win a BMX bicycle (he was sure he'd win a bike).

I sat down with my son and together we went over the fine print, including the statement that the odds of winning were 1 in 10,000. Like any good dad with a great teachable moment, I gave my son a long-winded explanation about how long those odds were. I managed not to dash his hopes entirely, but his excitement was considerably dampened.

Several weeks later, we found a large cardboard box on our front porch. It was my son's brand-new BMX bike, won with an entry coupon from the back of a cereal box. I think that was the day I stopped being so smart in my son's eyes. :)

[HopeHoops]

19. LOL! Well SOMEBODY had to win it. There were just 9,999 who didn't.

:)

[Curmudgeoness]

14. It sounds like you know the answer already. You WILL lose it all

if you go the route you are thinking about going. Take it from a loser who figured that it was just "found money" anyways. Have a little fun once a week with the $2, come hell or high water. And congrats of the weight lose!