Powerball

[warthog]

Go with the 42 Yellowfin, just because....

What do you think, I'm made of money?

Oh wait...

Actually, I'd prolly stick to Mako or Sea Craft, just cause I like the lines. They would be PIMP though.
Maybe a nice 261

[From_the_NEK]

Something about the odds presented by this "math professor" doesn't add up...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/powerball-f...ry?id=17824498

Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million. With so many people plaything this time around, some are worried it may hurt their odds.

"Your odds of being a winner are still the same. With so many people playing, it does mean are more likely to split the jackpot if you want," said Scott Norris, math professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Everyone who lines up with cash in their hand and dreams in their head seems to have a strategy in picking the winning combination of numbers. Or, do you simply let the computer pick for you?

"It doesn't matter. Your odds of winning are actually the same no matter who picks it," said Norris. Norris says the only real advantage that can help someone is buying more tickets.

"Your odds increase directly proportional to the number of tickets you buy. So if you buy 100, your odds are 1 in 7 million, but still astronomically small," he said.

I'm pretty sure the way this actually works is FAR different.

Exact odds for winning with one ticket are: 1 in 175,223,510
Buying 100 tickets actually "increases" you odds to: 1 in 175,223,410

There are 175,223,510 possible combinations of balls. Buying one ticket locks you in for one combination. Buying 100 tickets just buys you 100 combinations. It doesn't divide the total number of combinations by 100!

Edit:
My statistical math sucks and my numbers above are actually not accurate at all. (See posts below)

[butterscotch]

Something about the odds presented by this "math professor" doesn't add up...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/powerball-f...ry?id=17824498




I'm pretty sure the way this actually works is FAR different.

Exact odds for winning with one ticket are: 1 in 175,223,510
Buying 100 tickets actually "increases" you odds to: 1 in 175,223,410

There are 175,223,510 possible combinations of balls. Buying one ticket locks you in for one combination. Buying 100 tickets just buys you 100 combinations. It doesn't divide the total number of combinations by 100!

Epic math fail quoted for posterity.

[From_the_NEK]

Oh and if I won the lottery...
Mortgage paid (along with those of immediate family).
Ski houses in both hemispheres.
A nice house on a tropical island.
With two young kids I would take the volunteer route of "working" to make sure they understand that work ethic is important.

[From_the_NEK]

Correct my math then.

[Lonnie]

I'd position myself to make a run for the presidency....

[iceman]

Correct my math then.

The chances that any one ticket is a winner is a constant but the chances that you are holding a winner increase in direct proportion to the number of tickets you hold.

Say there's nine white balls and one black one. The odds that you pick up the cup and reveal a black ball are one in ten. Say you get five of the balls. The odds that the black ball will be one of your five are 50/50. Still only one ball but you increase your odds by having more balls. So, get more balls I guess would be the conclusion.

[bagtagley]

I'm not sure I'd own houses at ski resorts. I'd rather watch the weather and book a suite at whichever place is getting snow. Same with beaches. If I want to go to the beach, I'll rent something wherever I feel like going. If they're booked, I've got enough money to persuade them to unbook something.

Is seeing the world more valuable to a kid than the stability and socialization that comes with staying put? I'm not sure. I think we'd stay put and travel during school breaks, and occasional extended hooky sessions.

[Danno]

well, not cash.. but cash equivalent.

I've heard stories of people making pseudo corporations just so they can have a corporate employee pick up the winnings for you so that it remains anonymous. something like that.

Isn't one of the conditions of the ticket/prize that you can't be anonymous?

[uglymoney]

Isn't one of the conditions of the ticket/prize that you can't be anonymous?

Depends on where you buy the tickets. In Iowa you cannot be anonymous. In other states you can be.

[bagtagley]

Isn't one of the conditions of the ticket/prize that you can't be anonymous?

I think that depends on the state?

There was a similar thread when the MegaMillions got huge. I still think I'd take the annuity.

[From_the_NEK]

Isn't one of the conditions of the ticket/prize that you can't be anonymous?

I think it depends on the state that you bought the ticket in.

[Danno]

Correct my math then.

stated another way from iceman, the number of tickets you buy doesn't reduce the number of winning combos. It increases your chance of having the winning combo. If there are 170million combos, buying 2 tickets gives you 2 chances to have the one winner, ie 2 in 170M. Buying a million tickets doesn't reduce the number of combos to 169M (there are still 170M and one of them is a winner). Instead, it gives you a million chances to have the winning combo.

[Danno]

so, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it depend on the state where you bought the ticket?

[frozenwater]

I would hire out a town to help me get accomplish the ultimate burn.

I have this friend who thinks he is pretty hardcore, is a petty thief, etc.

I would pick him up in a car where I had put in a really nice sound system then drive to this town where I would “rob” a bank, jump back in the car and be all high speed chase through the town. I would be weaving in and out of traffic, going over curbs through old ladies Hydrangeas and such. The whole time I think the soundtrack would have to be Tone Loce “Funky Cold Medina”, or maybe something equally hardcore like from Adele.

I would proceed to crash through the entire length of a dodge dealership, because I wouldn’t want to have to replace a bunch of imports, keep America strong and such. Then I would cap it all off by mowing down a hole group of bystanders and cops with my fake machine gun.

My friend would be all Holy shit and such. Mostly because of the music but I have to think the fake murders would also be impressionable. Then I would give him a bag of cash with like 80,000 in it and drop him off at the greyhound with the admonition to run like the wind and to never stop looking behind you.

Give or take a few decades I would find him again and be all “Burn!”

[Meadow Skipper]

I would hire out a town to help me get accomplish the ultimate burn.

I have this friend who thinks he is pretty hardcore, is a petty thief, etc.

I would pick him up in a car where I had put in a really nice sound system then drive to this town where I would “rob” a bank, jump back in the car and be all high speed chase through the town. I would be weaving in and out of traffic, going over curbs through old ladies Hydrangeas and such. The whole time I think the soundtrack would have to be Tone Loce “Funky Cold Medina”, or maybe something equally hardcore like from Adele.

I would proceed to crash through the entire length of a dodge dealership, because I wouldn’t want to have to replace a bunch of imports, keep America strong and such. Then I would cap it all off by mowing down a hole group of bystanders and cops with my fake machine gun.

My friend would be all Holy shit and such. Mostly because of the music but I have to think the fake murders would also be impressionable. Then I would give him a bag of cash with like 80,000 in it and drop him off at the greyhound with the admonition to run like the wind and to never stop looking behind you.

Give or take a few decades I would find him again and be all “Burn!”

Uh, wow.

[AdironRider]

Id make the Kemmerer's a godfather offer and own JHole outright.

[From_the_NEK]

1 in 175,223,510 chances of winning = 0.00000005707%

100 in 175,223,510 chances of winning = 0.000005707%

So can the 100 in 175,223,510 statement be reduced down to a "1 in xyz" odds statement (you know, so morans like me can understand it)?

[AdironRider]

All I know is you cant win if you don't play.

[From_the_NEK]

Going to go buy my single ticket now

[Danno]

1 in 175,223,510 chances of winning = 0.00000005707%

100 in 175,223,510 chances of winning = 0.000005707%

So can the 100 in 175,223,510 statement be reduced down to a "1 in xyz" odds statement (you know, so morans like me can understand it)?

1 in 17,522,351. Look at it this way. If there are 175,223,510 possible winning combos, what is your chance of winning if you buy 87,611,755 unique tickets? By your math, your chances of winning are still 1 in 87,611,755. But I think the odds of winning then would be 1 in 2.

[From_the_NEK]

1 in 17,522,351. Look at it this way. If there are 175,223,510 possible winning combos, what is your chance of winning if you buy 87,611,755 unique tickets? By your math, your chances of winning are still 1 in 87,611,755. But I think the odds of winning then would be 1 in 2.

Perfect, exactly what I was looking for!

[Art Shirk]

Buy a warehouse and 1000 monkeys. I'd give them all typewriters and hire attendants to clean, feed and maintain. Monkey dies, buy a new one, always maintaining 1000. Monitor results and sign a futures book deal. Forget about monkeys and found a bank. Then I will talk to my friends at the Prosecutors office to make sure I was clear for take-off and then I would try to rob my own bank using outlandish Mission Impossible type gadgets and an unnecessary building breach technique. Then I would pay friends to get tattoos. I have a buddy who would take 10k to tattoo Bieber Fever on his forehead. Pretty sure I would manage to get a waterslide built at my new house that was lubricated entirely by 47' Cheval Blanc. Probably transform more than a few Indian slum dump spaces into green spaces and upgrade sewer systems. I'd have a team invent an ergonomical and self-warming ball rest that could attach to sinks and urinals. And I may open a number of abortion clinics and name them the Westboro Baptist Fun Zones. I suppose I could go on and on. Too many possibilities.

[DasBlunt]

^^^"Westboro baptist fun zones", awesome.

With that much money, you could basically not make any plans for the future and on a whim do anything you dream of, over and over again for a long time.

[huckbucket]

Buy a warehouse and 1000 monkeys. I'd give them all typewriters and hire attendants to clean, feed and maintain. Monkey dies, buy a new one, always maintaining 1000. Monitor results and sign a futures book deal. Forget about monkeys and found a bank. Then I will talk to my friends at the Prosecutors office to make sure I was clear for take-off and then I would try to rob my own bank using outlandish Mission Impossible type gadgets and an unnecessary building breach technique. Then I would pay friends to get tattoos. I have a buddy who would take 10k to tattoo Bieber Fever on his forehead. Pretty sure I would manage to get a waterslide built at my new house that was lubricated entirely by 47' Cheval Blanc. Probably transform more than a few Indian slum dump spaces into green spaces and upgrade sewer systems. I'd have a team invent an ergonomical and self-warming ball rest that could attach to sinks and urinals. And I may open a number of abortion clinics and name them the Westboro Baptist Fun Zones. I suppose I could go on and on. Too many possibilities.

^^
This post is full of win. Kudos.