Quote: Originally posted by GoogilyMoogily on Sep 27, 2015
Excitement at 9 digit jackpots has faded.
The daily pick 3 typically pays 500 on odds of 1:1000 (000-999). Depends on where you play, legal or otherwise I suppose. We all know this and it's awesome odds if you ask me. Theoretically, over time you can only win back half of what you play. Whoops, forgot taxes. Yikes. I'm not going to make a living or retire playing the daily. It's like a Toyota, in that it's common, dependable and predictable. I'm not saying predictable in what the numbers will be, but predictable-ish in the payout. Cold and hot streaks aside, it all balances out. I always see people playing stacks of daily numbers. Getting gas at the same gas station at roughly the same time of day after work, you tend to see the same people playing the daily as a regular thing. It brings in steady revenue to the state, but little else from what I've read.
Playing Megamillions (my fave, still a buck) at odds of 1:258,890,850 has astronomically bad odds for winning, but the windfall can be absolutely life changing. My theory is that playing $1 per draw (twice a week), means I'm sure to hit MM at least once in a little over 129 million weeks (~2.5 million years). I can cut that down to winning once every 1/2 million years by playing $5 per draw. Ha ha, foolproof or foolish retirement plan? Foolish for sure. It's like the world's fastest race car in it's rarity, excitement and danger. People show up in droves at the lottery sellers when record level jackpots arrive. Thus, if people lose interest in the routine $300 million plus draws, the lotto has little choice but to ramp up the odds to increase the jackpots and keep people interested/playing. Can you imagine the mayhem when a lotto hits $1 billion plus in the US? I will make one prediction about that lotto draw: record numbers of people will call in sick to stand in hours long lines to buy hundreds of QP/EP tickets, even people that have never played before.
Not related, but the most money I've ever won is playing horses at the track. Short legs for sprints. Long legs for distance. Lightweight jockey. Got it. Watching the horses warm up is 90% of my method. I watched a trainer punch a favored horse once. Kept that to myself teehee. I bet against that horse and won big time lol. Probably never happen again. It was a bad day for the horse but a good day for me.
Here's my perspective:
If I paid $1 for a chance to win the daily, it's like paying $1 at the door, going into a 25x40 foot room (1000 sq ft), and standing on the correct tile to win. That's not so bad. I can see that.
Contrast that tiny room against paying $1 for a chance to win MM, you pay the same $1 at the door, but now you walk into a room that is a little over 3 miles square (~5 km), then standing on the correct tile to win. What? It would take me one hour just to walk to the other corner of the room! Yupp. Kinda depressing odds if you ask me. If I were in one corner, and somebody in the opposite corner, would I even see their feet considering curvature of the Earth? Still, at a bargain $1 compared to greedy ole Powerball at $2, I still play. (5280 ft/mi * 3.05mi)^2 is roughly equal to the odds of MM. I hardly see people play the jackpot games much, unless it's a record, then there will be line for sure.