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Powerball up to $305 million dollars drawing 8/15/12

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JTsyo said:
ran birthdays for 2 50 year runs and never hit anything above $200. Down about $10K over 50 years. Glad I don't do this in real life, it would be depressing.
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Actually, it'd be the opposite of depressing. Every time you buy a ticket, you get that tiny little bit of hope and start thinking about "what if". You'd be hopeful, happy, eager. Of course you'd be sad you didn't win each time, but you'll get that hopefulness/happiness again with the next ticket you buy.
 
Using that website, I hit $10,000 with my kids' birthdays relatively quickly, but now 300 simulated years later, I'm getting further and further behind.
 
Schfifty Five said:
Actually, it'd be the opposite of depressing. Every time you buy a ticket, you get that tiny little bit of hope and start thinking about "what if". You'd be hopeful, happy, eager. Of course you'd be sad you didn't win each time, but you'll get that hopefulness/happiness again with the next ticket you buy.
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yea but when you look back after 25 years and $5K...

Ran another one for 3,000 years. over $1 million spend, no win above 200 again, about $150K in winnings. Think I need to rethink my retirement plan, maybe pull back the $2 I put in the office pool. 14 cents on the dollar seems to be the steady state.
 
JTsyo said:
yea but when you look back after 25 years and $5K...

Ran another one for 3,000 years. over $1 million spend, no win above 200 again, about $150K in winnings. Think I need to rethink my retirement plan, maybe pull back the $2 I put in the office pool. 14 cents on the dollar seems to be the steady state.
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Ideal steady state is $0.295 on the dollar with sufficient plays. If you never won the jackpot, you're around $0.181 on the dollar.
 
Lotto could serve a good purpose if it worked differently. A lot of people lack the discipline to save up for something for a long time, but are apparently more than willing to put a little into a chance to get that thing, even with a microscopically small chance of winning.

Imagine a world where there is a "home" lotto. You put in $5. Winning gets you a house- a nice house, lets say a $500k home, all yours free and clear. Remove the "tax" aspect from this lotto- every dollar put in is given back out as part of a house. Would this have a net plus or a net negative effect on society?

For many lower-class citizens, saving to buy a house is nearly impossible, but putting in a few dollars a week for a small chance is perfectly plausible. Over 10 years, at one $5 ticket per week, the average person would put in $2600. So this would work out to one home per 192 people every 10 years. Or one home per 1920 people every year.

Would this be a good or a bad thing overall? Many people could get houses who could never normally afford them. Some people might end up buying thousands of dollars in these tickets and walk away empty handed, but in the absence of a lotto they could just be spending that same money on alcohol or cigs. At least under this system the money is going to someone's good.
 
Chiropteran said:
Lotto could serve a good purpose if it worked differently. A lot of people lack the discipline to save up for something for a long time, but are apparently more than willing to put a little into a chance to get that thing, even with a microscopically small chance of winning.

Imagine a world where there is a "home" lotto. You put in $5. Winning gets you a house- a nice house, lets say a $500k home, all yours free and clear. Remove the "tax" aspect from this lotto- every dollar put in is given back out as part of a house. Would this have a net plus or a net negative effect on society?

For many lower-class citizens, saving to buy a house is nearly impossible, but putting in a few dollars a week for a small chance is perfectly plausible. Over 10 years, at one $5 ticket per week, the average person would put in $2600. So this would work out to one home per 192 people every 10 years. Or one home per 1920 people every year.

Would this be a good or a bad thing overall? Many people could get houses who could never normally afford them. Some people might end up buying thousands of dollars in these tickets and walk away empty handed, but in the absence of a lotto they could just be spending that same money on alcohol or cigs. At least under this system the money is going to someone's good.
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bad. if you can't save up to buy a house, chances are you would do a poor job managing the finances for a house. Also you can't just give a house away and have it be something people want. It would have to be in the right area and a neighborhood they want to be in. I would guess 75% would probably just sell the house and take the cash.

Our office pool is now over 30 people, so that means $2.5million/person if we hit the jackpot with just one winner. That's not even enough to maintain my Faberge egg habit.
 
19,000 years and almost 2,000,000 tickets later:

$6,000,000 spent and $850,000 won. ($0.14 return.)

1 x $40,000
260 x $200
 
JTsyo said:
bad. if you can't save up to buy a house, chances are you would do a poor job managing the finances for a house. Also you can't just give a house away and have it be something people want. It would have to be in the right area and a neighborhood they want to be in. I would guess 75% would probably just sell the house and take the cash.

Our office pool is now over 30 people, so that means $2.5million/person if we hit the jackpot with just one winner. That's not even enough to maintain my Faberge egg habit.
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None of what you say is worse than just blowing the $5/week on beer or junk. In fact, it's all a lot better. I don't see the bad side based on what you said.
 
Robsasman said:
http://justwebware.com/powerball/powerball.html

Here's a powerball simulator reddit just had a thread about. I had it set for 2 tickets a week for 50 years and never hit more than a $100. One guy in the thread hit a million on his 2nd ticket.
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Damn used up all my luck for the next 38 years on a simulator

Wsrov.png
 
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