Well, I Didn't Win The Powerball Last Night...

[Lord Jim]

but you already knew that, since you can see that I'm posting...

Wednesday's top prize will now for the first time break the one billion mark:

With No Powerball Winners, Jackpot Grows to Estimated $1.3 Billion

With no winners in Saturday night's record $949.8 million Powerball drawing, the next jackpot could reach an estimated $1.3 billion, lottery officials said early Sunday.

The winning numbers were 16, 19, 32, 34, 57, and a Powerball of 13. To win the jackpot, all six numbers must be correct. The first five can be in any order, but the sixth must be the Powerball number.

Gary Grief, the executive director of the Texas Lottery, told ABC News on Sunday he was surprised to see the results of Saturday night's drawing. He said 25 players won a $1 million prize and three others won a $2 million prize.

"If you don't play, you will not win," Grief advised.

The estimated cash value of the next drawing is $806 million. There's a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning the Powerball's grand prize.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/powerball-winn ... d=36184696

[Guinevere]

Neither did I. Two tickets, one number.

[TPFKA@W]

Me neither.

[Bicycle Bill]

I'll admit, I threw four bucks at it last night myself, and had exactly the same results as Guinevere.  Two sets of numbers; matched only one single white ball on one of those sets.

It certainly seems strange that with as many people buying tickets as there were that not one person had a winner ... but I just did the math.  Given the way Powerball is set up — correctly pick five numbers out of 69, and then pick one number out of a second set of 26 — there are (in my best Carl Sagan voice) BILLIONS and BILLIONS of possible combinations without ever repeating one's self ... 35,064,160,560, to be precise.  Even if all you wanted to do was to guarantee that you would have a million-dollar winning ticket (just the five white balls) you would have to buy a total of 1,348,621,560 tickets to cover all the possible permutations.

So, given this information, will I still buy a couple of chances for Wednesday night's drawing?  Sure.  Should I ever win that amount of money it would change my life in ways that God himself probably couldn't even imagine.  So even though I realize that I have a better chance of being struck by lightning within this next year — 1 in 700,000 — than correctly picking all five number plus the Powerball, my highly-evolved monkey brain tells me "...there's always that slim, slim chance...".

And as the saying goes, "you can't win if you don't buy a ticket".

-"BB"-

[rubato]

I think I'll make a small investment in the highly improbable or a donation to California education, as you like.


Yrs,
Rubato

[wesw]

yeah, a billion?

I think I ll buy a couple of tickets myself.

i could buy a highway, have a house pulled into the middle of it, and yell at everyone to get the hell out of my driveway with that much money.

i would buy every piece of available land in the critical areas and woodlands and let it grow.

[Gob]

Someone get me a ticket? I'll split the winnings with you.

[RayThom]

Thirty numbers total... one match, #16. Now that I'm sucked into the vortex I guess I'll buy five more plays before Wednesday night's drawing. A suckers game, for sure, but I'm in with a group of like-minded dreamers so I won't feel like a total idiot.

When it finally hits I'm fairly sure it will be multiple winners. It will be such a pity that I may have to share the $1.3 Billion -- plus -- but I'm sure I'll get by.

[datsunaholic]

Gee, Ray, I had the same luck as you, except my one matching number was #32. It was the first lottery ticket I'd bought in nearly 2 years.

At least around here you never have to deal with lines anymore as they've pretty much just gone with self-serve "Vending machine" type kiosks.

[TPFKA@W]

Someone get me a ticket? I'll split the winnings with you.

I believe you can buy them online. Have a google.

[Long Run]

Someone get me a ticket? I'll split the winnings with you.

Years ago, when the lotteries were just getting popular, an Australian syndicate bought all the number combos on a high prize and won it with a five-fold return on their investment. Since then, numbers have been added to make the odds greater,and they slowed the purchase process, thereby making a similar strategy impossible. One of us will have to win it fair and square, I guess.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Someone get me a ticket? I'll split the winnings with you.

Dear Mr. Gob. My late wife purchased one this lottery ticket in recent times and it is now won many millions of dollar United States. Unfortunate, she insist on her death bed that most of these funds got to a good Christian man in Australia which I am finding is you. Therefore I have 400 millions US which is for making disciples in Sydney and also Melbun with Darwin also awarded. You may keep 10 (ten) percent (%) for your own expenses. Please to tell me all your bank info data and reply soonest for transfer to be made.

PS please do not forget to light a candle for my wife

Your sincere fiend,
B. O. Clemson (ret.)

[BoSoxGal]

[liberty]

Could one win the power ball and stay anonymous? If people knew that you had that kind of money you would never have a moment of peace. You have to go to a Wal-Mart out of state. You would have to hire an army of security guards.

[datsunaholic]

I heard of one Powerball or MM winner who "incorporated" and hired a lawyer to pick up the winnings, disguising the name of the actual winner. However that is apparently not legal in every State. Some States apparently require the winner be announced publicly.

Most analysts recommend winners hire a lawyer before ever picking up the winnings. And they certainly don't recommend carrying a half Mil in a suitcase and leaving it in your car at a strip club like this Powerball winner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Whit ... _winner%29

[Gob]

You too can be a winner, like this chap

He became the self-proclaimed king of the chavs after turning up to collect his £9.7million lottery win wearing an electronic offender's tag.

But eight years on, having blown all that money, Michael Carroll is practising for a return to his old job as a binman.



The 26-year-old, who squandered his multi-million fortune on drugs, gambling and thousands of prostitutes, has since February claimed £42 a week in jobseeker's allowance.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3wuUYytuq

[Scooter]

How does someone blow through £10 million in 8 years? I couldn't even imagine what I could spend that much money on.

[Bicycle Bill]

How does someone blow through £10 million in 8 years? I couldn't even imagine what I could spend that much money on.

"The 26-year-old, who squandered his multi-million fortune on drugs, gambling and thousands of prostitutes...."

I guess this means that the old saying that "money can't buy you happiness" is true, but if you have a supply of women of negotiable virtue you can certainly rent some happiness for a while.

-"BB"-

[Lord Jim]

You have to go to a Wal-Mart out of state.

I don't know about you, but if I win 800 million bucks I won't be spending a lot of time hanging out at Wal-Mart in any state...

[kmccune]

Bicycle Bill ,How come your permutations dont match the odds given ? Is there a different way to calculate odds ?