# Lotto Max!



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

On a lighter note.... I never buy lottery tickets as a rule, but I was just down to the corner store (to get a 2L milk) and there were a few people in front of me getting their tickets (ANOTHER pet peeve, BTW!), so I decided to "invest" $7 in a set of numbers and something called a Twist & a Tag. $60 million jackpot!
Anyone else bite?


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

I bought a 649 yesterday.
don't often buy them either, but the odds are better per dollar spent with the 649 imho.

Odds of winning the lotto 649 jackpot are 1 in 14M* so for $3 I sometimes buy one when the pot is $42M* or higher and think of it as an ultra-high-risk small temporary addition to my portfolio.
I figure the chances of the pot being split between more than one winner is somewhat cancelled out with all the little prizes.

Odds of winning the lotto max jackpot are 1 in 28M at a price of $5 per ticket & the pot is capped so I haven't ever really considered buying one.

*edit was thinking the odds were 1/7M, but after double-checking the OLG site I remembered that it was actually 1/14M


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

mrPPincer said:


> I bought a 649 yesterday.
> don't often buy them either, but the odds are better per dollar spent with the 649 imho.
> 
> Odds of winning the lotto 649 jackpot are 1 in 7M so for $3 I sometimes buy one when the pot is $21M or higher and think of it as an ultra-high-risk small temporary addition to my portfolio.
> ...


I'm just curious, but with the LottoMax, they add $1M prizes once the pot is capped, so don't the odds for winning at least $1M prize change slightly? Essentially with tonight's draw there are an additional 25 $1M prizes, so couldn't you say that the odds of winning at least $1M is roughly 1 in 1.12 M? Still a long shot, but I always thought that the odds are better to become a millionaire when you have more prizes.


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

oops..
correction, just double-checked, odds of winning 649 is one in 14million, so I should have waited for the jackpot to go up to 42M or so. :stupid:

I'll edit my post above.


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

bgc_fan said:


> I'm just curious, but with the LottoMax, they add $1M prizes once the pot is capped, so don't the odds for winning at least $1M prize change slightly? Essentially with tonight's draw there are an additional 25 $1M prizes, so couldn't you say that the odds of winning at least $1M is roughly 1 in 1.12 M? Still a long shot, but I always thought that the odds are better to become a millionaire when you have more prizes.


Yeah, the 1M prizes should make the ticket slightly more valuable, but the odds of winning a 1M prize are the same as the jackpot odds, & looking at the last draw they gave 8 sets of numbers for 1M prizes but only one of them produced a winner.

I guess for last weeks draw one could have theoretically added the potential 8M for the eight bonus draws and added them to the jackpot amount for calculating whether or not to have bought a ticket, still doesn't come up to $5 x 28.5M though. (just the way I look at it).


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

what are the odds of getting struck by lightning.....TWICE....in your lifetime?
(isn't it often said that the odds of that are BETTER than your odds of winning a lottery?)
each:


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## JosephK (Nov 7, 2012)

My lottery ticket rule is to buy once per year. I figure if I'm lucky I'll win no matter how few tickets I buy and if I'm unlucky I'll lose no matter how many.


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## Kail (Feb 7, 2012)

It's rare that I will buy a ticket on my own, however I am part of a lottery pool at work. No way in hell am I coming into work if all my colleagues strike it rich.


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## lonewolf (Jun 12, 2012)

Buying lottery tickets & or gambling in Vegas is a strong sign one should not play the markets. Unless the lottery pot got so big the math indicated more money would be given away then won perhaps a lottery pool @ work would not indicate you should not play the market. Putting money on the table with out having an edge is not the best approach.


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## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

I should be able to sue my lottery salesperson for incompetence because he has never sold me a big money winning ticket.


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## Oldroe (Sep 18, 2009)

I've done well in the markets and buy Lottery tickets.

1/ Is a investment 

2/ Is a dream

I don't see any relationship to each other. I don't buy weekly I don't consider lottery or the casino investments. I grew up in a horse racing family and go to the track occasionally just for entertainment.


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## GPM (Jan 23, 2015)

So...an acquaintance pulled in $25 MILLION 2-3 years ago. My dads friend won 1 million in the 80's. 

What's interesting is that you would never know either won, except they traded in junk cars and bought nice ones. Just normal, not porches or bmw's. Travel more. The big winner could have used a million or so - was nice to see.

We only buy at Christmas for stockings, when everything is 50 million as no chance of winning. I think the above absolutely precludes us from winning. However as my buddy says if you don't buy you can't win. You still can't win!


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Some people are lucky, some people aren't. I knew a guy at work years ago who seemed to win some kind of draw every few weeks. Little things like a quilt or a few hundred bucks but still. I never won anything. Found out early that I am not lucky and keep away from lotteries and gambling. For most people it is better.

If you want to have a little flutter go ahead. The sad thing is people who spend hundreds of $$$$ every week they can't afford.


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## atrp2biz (Sep 22, 2010)

But how can I retire if I don't play the lottery?


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## Butters (Apr 20, 2012)

lottery is just a tax on the poor


only desperate people buy them

and if the average of them counts their money put in vs won, it is always a loss.... expect for those few that win each year


had the average invested their money over time, they can win their own lottery


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Rusty O'toole - i have the exact same luck. Trouble is, I still enjoy the monthly poker game with the boys...


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I must admit I've bought 649's once in a while, because let's face it ... there's always the possibility. _Somebody_ wins. A pooled group of 12 buyers just won $5 million EACH ... $60 million total!

That being said, I think gambling in the stock market is much more lucrative. You can reduce many trades down to a binary and have nearly 50/50 odds, which is really good in the scheme of gambling.

In its simplest form, you could go buy a bunch of XIU puts or calls. Either the market goes up or down. You only lose if the market doesn't move, or if the options expire worthless.


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## Oldroe (Sep 18, 2009)

I don't feel desperate.


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## DayTek (Sep 26, 2013)

Oldroe said:


> I don't feel desperate.


Same.

We buy one 6/49 ticket when we get groceries every week...$3. Maybe a Lotto Max for one of the max million things. Once in a while we'll talk about if we won and that's fun, but we don't take it seriously. It's a form of entertainment. We go to casinos once in a while and throw $20 in the slots. It's just like going to the movies or a round of bowling. We don't play to win; We just play to have fun.


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