EPTOkay. If you win you have to donate 3% of your winnings to teamliquid no questions asked.
Mega Millions Lottery $640 million jackpot - Page 2
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micronesia
United States24692 Posts
Okay. If you win you have to donate 3% of your winnings to teamliquid no questions asked. | ||
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ziggurat
Canada847 Posts
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Durak
Canada3684 Posts
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Charger
United States2405 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:37 ziggurat wrote: Can you buy these if you live in Canada? Yep. And on top of that, "Prizes are subject to a federal withholding tax of 30 per cent, which out-of-country players can apply to have rebated. Most states also tack on their own taxes, up to 30 per cent, according to the Star." Source | ||
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HardlyNever
United States1258 Posts
The way I see it, if you do nothing, you have a 0% chance of winning. You can't win, ever. However, the difference between 0% chance and 1 in 180 million is actually quite big. 0% is zero fucking percent. Can't happen. At all. But 1 in 180 million... well shit, going from 0% to some fraction of a percent for 1 dollar, that seems worth it. Of course, it ends there. While buying two tickets doubles your odds, the change in probabilities is so small it isn't worth it. Only going from 0% to 1 in 180 million (or whatever the odds happen to be) is actually worth it. Generally, though, I always felt like the lottery was a scam. I've only bought like 5 tickets in my entire life, but the few times I did I had some "fun" with it, so I don't regret it. Maybe I'll buy a single ticket.  | ||
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Disregard
China10252 Posts
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blabber
United States4448 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:50 HardlyNever wrote: When I got out of college, I had a really mind-numbing job. And when you have a mind-numbing job, you start to think about things that will change that, and how you can obtain that change. I came up with this (admittedly shallow) idea that to actually NOT play the lottery is dumb. However, buying more than 1 ticket is also dumb. The way I see it, if you do nothing, you have a 0% chance of winning. You can't win, ever. However, the difference between 0% chance and 1 in 180 million is actually quite big. 0% is zero fucking percent. Can't happen. At all. But 1 in 180 million... well shit, going from 0% to some fraction of a percent for 1 dollar, that seems worth it. Of course, it ends there. While buying two tickets doubles your odds, the change in probabilities is so small it isn't worth it. Only going from 0% to 1 in 180 million (or whatever the odds happen to be) is actually worth it. Generally, though, I always felt like the lottery was a scam. I've only bought like 5 tickets in my entire life, but the few times I did I had some "fun" with it, so I don't regret it. Maybe I'll buy a single ticket. i believe once the jackpot reaches a certain amount of money, it actually becomes a "good" gamble to pay the $1 for a chance at it | ||
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Durak
Canada3684 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:50 HardlyNever wrote: When I got out of college, I had a really mind-numbing job. And when you have a mind-numbing job, you start to think about things that will change that, and how you can obtain that change. I came up with this (admittedly shallow) idea that to actually NOT play the lottery is dumb. However, buying more than 1 ticket is also dumb. The way I see it, if you do nothing, you have a 0% chance of winning. You can't win, ever. However, the difference between 0% chance and 1 in 180 million is actually quite big. 0% is zero fucking percent. Can't happen. At all. But 1 in 180 million... well shit, going from 0% to some fraction of a percent for 1 dollar, that seems worth it. Of course, it ends there. While buying two tickets doubles your odds, the change in probabilities is so small it isn't worth it. Only going from 0% to 1 in 180 million (or whatever the odds happen to be) is actually worth it. Generally, though, I always felt like the lottery was a scam. I've only bought like 5 tickets in my entire life, but the few times I did I had some "fun" with it, so I don't regret it. Maybe I'll buy a single ticket. If the ticket provides you with more enjoyment than the price, and there's nothing else that would give you more enjoyment for that price, that seems like a good purchase to me. I just wouldn't think of the probability because you won't win and that'll lessen your enjoyment. | ||
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TheToast
United States4808 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:21 Recognizable wrote: If you buy 178 million tickets, that doesn't mean you will have a 100 percent chance of winning, right? ummm idk. According to Wikipedia the current rules state that you pick five numbers from between 1 and 56 and then you pick one number from 1 to 46. The first five numbers are all drawn from the same machine (that is one machine with just one set of the numbers 1-56 inside) so repeats are not possible. So the total number of possible results would be the total number of ways to choose 5 out of 56 multiplied by 46. So to figure that, we would use the formula for combination (which ignores order and won't count repeats) which is: n! ────── k!(n-k)! Where n is the total number of options and k is the number being chosen. So 56!/5!(56-5)! =56!/5!51! =55005350400 Then multiply by 46 to account for the mega ball number 55005350400(46) =253024611840 Is that right? There are 253,024,611,840 different combinations? | ||
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mizU
United States12125 Posts
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Enki
United States2548 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:42 Durak wrote: I hate lotteries based on utilitarianism: they take money from many poor, stupid people and give it to one person. At least it's taxed. Alot of the revenue from ticket sales goes to state programs though. Here in Gerogia, the state lotterys here helps fund college scholarships. Yes, one person eventually gets a fuckload of money but I'm sure the money pulled in from all the ticket sales is worth it, before taxes even set in. | ||
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Slithe
United States985 Posts
On March 31 2012 06:25 TheToast wrote: ummm idk. According to Wikipedia the current rules state that you pick five numbers from between 1 and 56 and then you pick one number from 1 to 46. The first five numbers are all drawn from the same machine (that is one machine with just one set of the numbers 1-56 inside) so repeats are not possible. So the total number of possible results would be the total number of ways to choose 5 out of 56 multiplied by 46. So to figure that, we would use the formula for combination (which ignores order and won't count repeats) which is: n! ────── k!(n-k)! Where n is the total number of options and k is the number being chosen. So 56!/5!(56-5)! =56!/5!51! =55005350400 Then multiply by 46 to account for the mega ball number 55005350400(46) =253024611840 Is that right? There are 253,024,611,840 different combinations? I think your calculations are off. (56!) / (5! * 51!) = 3 819 816 | ||
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Seth_
Belgium184 Posts
On March 31 2012 06:25 TheToast wrote: =56!/5!51! =55005350400 How did you calculate that? It's 3,819,816 times 46 leads to 175.7 million However I'm wondering if there are multiple winners, do they split the money? If they don't, you could buy every combination for 176 million and win 350 million guaranteed (+ all of the 5 number prizes...) | ||
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Assault_1
Canada1950 Posts
Its worth it for everyone to buy three tickets according to math, obviously doesnt work this way though | ||
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TheToast
United States4808 Posts
I DONT KNOW! O-o I'm at work so the only calculator handy is the useless windows one. | ||
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Assault_1
Canada1950 Posts
On March 31 2012 06:52 TheToast wrote: I DONT KNOW! O-o I'm at work so the only calculator handy is the useless windows one. google and wolfram alpha are better than any calculator | ||
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JimSocks
United States968 Posts
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ReketSomething
United States6012 Posts
The environment is being destroyed because of this | ||
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PrimeTimey
Canada369 Posts
On March 31 2012 05:13 tw!tch wrote: ahhh my whole office bought tickets today! a few guys and myself didn't chip in though. is it wrong to be nervous? Just don't be the idiot that tries to sue them after they win. | ||
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Pooshlmer
United States1001 Posts
http://www.circlemud.org/~jelson/megamillions/ | ||
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