Obama won’t buy Mega Millions ticket, White House says

Yahoo News ^ | 3/29/2012 | Olivier Knox

[varyouga]

President Barack Obama won't be joining the throngs of Americans lining up to buy a Mega Millions ticket, the White House said Thursday as the multi-state lottery's jackpot hit a record estimated $540 million jackpot ($389.8 million if you take the cash option).

But "I'm going to run out and buy one," press secretary Jay Carney lightheartedly told reporters as he wrapped up his daily briefing.

Earlier, at a deli a few blocks from the White House, customers lined up six deep to trade their greenbacks for the salmon-pink tickets, some of which bear the mention "D.C. Lottery Commemorative Ticket" and "I played the world's largest jackpot!"

[SMM48]

And the question was asked by whom?

[traumer]

..... customers lined up six deep to trade their greenbacks for the salmon-pink tickets

[traumer]

or buy 450 Million New Bullets

[mnehring]

Alternatively, you have increased your chances of not winning from

99.999999430885402993688473590032% to 99.999994308854029936884735900322%

This represents an improvement of

.00000512203166455910240060177%

(math may be a little off but you get the point).

[SMARTY]

Ha! He’s not used to a contest where he can’t rig the results....!

[Lazamataz]

If you win, I will personally write comedic pieces just for you.

Cheaply. Only 100k a shot. :)

[Drew68]

The lottery is an idiot tax.

Yep! And chances are good that tomorrow morning some idiot is going to wake up very, very rich.

I hope that idiot is me!

[Vendome]

And you are so damn funny I’d probably take you up as my ghost writer.

I gather the girls for some fun and we can both run off to my secluded island with them.

LOL

[Lazamataz]

Its a deal!!!

[Vendome]

Hit it baby!!!!

I’m off to work.

Be back in a few hours.

If you don’t hear from me for a few days assume I am drunk off my ass, at Lake Tahoe and with a few chicks.

I’ll prolly be back on Monday...maybe.

Actually, I am off to a party in Palm Springs.

Later Taters.

[EEGator]

Thanks for the info, I had no idea. I will avoid hash as well.

[allmendream]

The Hash smoking assassins were a weird(er?) sect of Islam. They used to smoke hash in the barracks until a young recruit would pass out - then he would awake in a garden paradise where young women would feed his carnal desires for food and flesh - then break out the hash and smoke him to unconsciousness again. When the young recruit would wake up back in the barracks they would tell him he had dreamed of the paradise that awaited him should he die for the cause.

They were famous for stabbing their victims right during religious worship right in the middle of the Mosque on a Friday (their sabbath). It was, obviously, a suicide mission.

When Saladin took a hard line against the cult - they promised to make him think better of it. Saladin put men positioned outside his tent in a ring with interlocking arms - but he STILL woke up with a red dagger (their symbol) stuck in the sand beside his head. He remarked “they have arguments that are difficult to dismiss.”

The name “Assassin” is actually derived from the Hashish they used to smoke.

[EEGator]

Islam and hash...what could go wrong?

[allmendream]

Islam, hash, and suicide missions! What could go right?

[GlockThe Vote]

End of thread

[varyouga]

I understand but those odds are still infinitely higher than 0.000000000000%

If I lose $20 a year for the rest of my life, it will not affect me at all. But if I win something like this even once, it would be life changing for me and everyone close to me.

The odds of winning lottery are probably greater than the odds of starting your own business from nothing and ending up with $10 million+ spendable cash. I know people that lost everything including their homes by investing in what they thought was a guaranteed business idea. There are no guarantees and the smallest unexpected thing can bankrupt you, even if you have a brilliant idea and work hard 24/7.

But very soon, a real person among us is guaranteed to be wealthier than they ever imagined by simply having wagered as little as $1. Those among us that didn’t play are guaranteed to get absolutely nothing.

[CSM]

Why the rush by everyone to become an evil rich person? I don’t get it...everyone hates the rich yet they spend money for a chance to become rich.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Yep, the lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math.

Clearly, the expected return on a ticket is less than the ticket price. But, economists have a theory as to why it might be worth buying anyway: It's called your utility function for wealth. Even though you're likely to lose money, you might have what is called a "high skew preference," meaning that the happiness you'll get from winning outweighs the bad odds.

I like to think of a lottery ticket as a happy form of insurance. In both cases, you expect to get back less than you pay. And, in both cases you may get a large payout, although the probability of that payout is very low. But, think--when you "win" with insurance, you are rarely happy; when you win with the lottery it's all good.

[Nihil Obstat]

It’s for US citizens only.

[QT3.14]

Zero can’t win when his numbers are 0 0 0 0 0 PB 0