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Does anyone here play scratch offs/lottery?

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Fritzo said:
I'll pick one one once in a while if I'm in a gas station or carry out. My parents play Megamillions every week though. Our family has a tragic story that may be the cause of that:

In 1982, the Ohio Lotto had just begun, and my grandmother played the same numbers every week. She would talk down to a corner carryout two blocks from her apartment, play her numbers, get me a candy bar and a roll of Life Savers, and then walk home. She did this every Tuesday, never missing a beat.

My grandfather died in his sleep in 1983, and this was devastating to her. She became severely depressed for over a year and was constantly sick as a result, yet she always made it to the carryout to get her ticket and my candy 🙂

In April of 1984, she came down with a severe case of the flu. She was so sick she wasn't able to make her ticket run.....and, of course, that is the week that ALL OF HER NUMBERS CAME UP.

She lost $4.5 million dollars that week (over $10 million in today's dollars), and she remained depressed over that until she died in 2002.

I could have been rich right now. Screw you flu bug :|
Click to expand...

A friend of my brother-in-law has a similar story - he was addicted to the lottery and spent $100/week on the same numbers. His wife finally put her foot down and demanded that he stop, and of course that was the week one of his sets of numbers came up. They divorced shortly thereafter and he became even more obsessed with the lottery.
 
I was literally just having this conversation with my coworkers before I saw this thread. Sometimes I like to buy a scratch off ticket, maybe once every 3 months or so. The biggest prize I've won on scratchoffs was $40, but I used to work with a guy that would hit the $500-$1000 prize quite often. I've never even tried powerball but since it's getting to be loads of money I figure why not? If I lose, I'm missing a few bucks, but if I somehow got lucky then I could basically do anything I want, and who doesn't want that? Anyway after work I'm going to pick up a few tickets and see what happens!
 
SearchMaster said:
A friend of my brother-in-law has a similar story - he was addicted to the lottery and spent $100/week on the same numbers. His wife finally put her foot down and demanded that he stop, and of course that was the week one of his sets of numbers came up. They divorced shortly thereafter and he became even more obsessed with the lottery.
Click to expand...

I feel like more stories like this exist than is statistically possible

It's always the very next drawing after they stopped when their numbers came up too 🙄
 
gorcorps said:
I feel like more stories like this exist than is statistically possible

It's always the very next drawing after they stopped when their numbers came up too 🙄
Click to expand...

I hear stories like this all the time "Oh, the one time I forgot to play my numbers they came up!" Yeah... I'm sure. Literally, every time I don't play the numbers I would have picked, had I actually gotten a ticket, come up. I've "lost" billions of dollars. Obviously, you can't prove that I didn't, so it must be true.
 
smackababy said:
I hear stories like this all the time "Oh, the one time I forgot to play my numbers they came up!" Yeah... I'm sure. Literally, every time I don't play the numbers I would have picked, had I actually gotten a ticket, come up. I've "lost" billions of dollars. Obviously, you can't prove that I didn't, so it must be true.
Click to expand...

you should tell me when you stop playing your numbers, and I'll tell you when I stop playing mine

:ninja:
 
Never - its a tax on the stupid.

I understand its gambling and people get enjoyment from it, but the odds are so damn bad I don't get it.

Whether its scratch offs or Powerball - nope!
 
gorcorps said:
I feel like more stories like this exist than is statistically possible

It's always the very next drawing after they stopped when their numbers came up too 🙄
Click to expand...

The CA lottery website has a feature where you can punch in your favorite numbers and see if you would have ever won.

I've tried different permutations and found that if I played those numbers every week from the beginning of the lottery, at most I would have pulled three numbers.
 
Very rarely. Almost had to tell the lottery addict at work to shove off about entering his powerball pool. He estimates he has spent >20k on lottery tickets in his life. Cant afford a vacation though ya know.
 
No on scratch off tickets but I do buy a lottery ticket (either Powerball or Megamillion) here and there whenever the jackpot getting big, as in $200 - $300 million range big.


But I would never spend more than $20 per drawing, not matter how big the jackpot was.

<<---- <crossing fingers for tonight $400+ million drawing>
 
Last edited:
madoka said:
The CA lottery website has a feature where you can punch in your favorite numbers and see if you would have ever won.

I've tried different permutations and found that if I played those numbers every week from the beginning of the lottery, at most I would have pulled three numbers.
Click to expand...
Someone posted a site that would pick numbers for you. I set it up for 2 drawings/week and just let it run. 600+ years later and the most I'd have won was $10K. Talk about a dose of reality.
 
SearchMaster said:
A friend of my brother-in-law has a similar story - he was addicted to the lottery and spent $100/week on the same numbers. His wife finally put her foot down and demanded that he stop, and of course that was the week one of his sets of numbers came up. They divorced shortly thereafter and he became even more obsessed with the lottery.
Click to expand...

I think they guy had other problems too. $100 is a bit excessive.
 
highland145 said:
Someone posted a site that would pick numbers for you. I set it up for 2 drawings/week and just let it run. 600+ years later and the most I'd have won was $10K. Talk about a dose of reality.
Click to expand...

Just think, that $10k only cost you $124k over 600 years! Well, if the price of the ticket never went up.
 
Once in a while. The payout is terrible on them here, something like 50%. (maybe that's true everywhere).

Most I've won was $100 on a $1 ticket.
 
Fritzo said:
I'll pick one one once in a while if I'm in a gas station or carry out. My parents play Megamillions every week though. Our family has a tragic story that may be the cause of that:

In 1982, the Ohio Lotto had just begun, and my grandmother played the same numbers every week. She would talk down to a corner carryout two blocks from her apartment, play her numbers, get me a candy bar and a roll of Life Savers, and then walk home. She did this every Tuesday, never missing a beat.

My grandfather died in his sleep in 1983, and this was devastating to her. She became severely depressed for over a year and was constantly sick as a result, yet she always made it to the carryout to get her ticket and my candy 🙂

In April of 1984, she came down with a severe case of the flu. She was so sick she wasn't able to make her ticket run.....and, of course, that is the week that ALL OF HER NUMBERS CAME UP.

She lost $4.5 million dollars that week (over $10 million in today's dollars), and she remained depressed over that until she died in 2002.

I could have been rich right now. Screw you flu bug :|
Click to expand...

My dad plays the lotto. He missed one number in the lotto. The jackpot was $100million
 
eng2d2 said:
We wish. instead of 7 number was 8 no prize
Click to expand...

If it was a US multi-state lottery, he won a price. In fact, I think a lot of the state lotteries also include a prize for getting all but one number. In the Powerball, matching all but one is $1 million.
 
I know this thread is about scratch offs, so I will answer.
Yes, about 5-8 dollars a month on average.
Biggest prize. 40 bucks. It gives me 3 minutes of joy while waitting for my egg sammy at the local deli.

Regarding Lotto games. In every game, in every state, a certain amount of games are played as follows.....

In a 5 number game, people play the following
1,2,3,4,5.
In a 6 number game, people play the following
1,2,3,4,5,6

When I used to "Follow Numbers" (Google Gail Howard) back in the late 80's, in the history of EVERY Lotto game played those numbers have NEVER come up. I cant speak for now.
Statiscally, they have the same odds....... But thats a number set I would NEVER play.
AND, even if you did hit, a 5 million dollar top prize (Remember, late 80's early 90's) you would end up with $20,000 in a typical NY Lotto pool cause so many people played it.
 
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