[SamAdams76]

Another egregious example of our state government being afraid that citizens might shun their gambling parlors (a/k/a "The Lottery"). I abhor gambling but would not mind seeing it made legal now that Massachusetts has pushed it into every corner of the state. Why should the government have a monopoly on immorality and fleecing the poor and the ignorant?

[nygoose]

``Who was the individual? Who was he representing? What is the precedent for these kinds of bets?

This is starting to smell suspiciously like a lottery hate crime. For good measure, it should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.

[semiarticulate]

" ``Who was the individual? Who was he representing? "

Just say yes sir, smile, then shut up.

[AmericaUnited]

How much is 1 ticket?

[DonQ]

I don't suppose this man is representing anyone but himself. He evidently has enough smarts to try to improve his odds and is willing to bet his entire nest-egg to do it. Certainly betting a whole lot of different numbers in just one drawing is better odds than just one number in a lot of different drawings. But I am not sure that he has reduced the odds to 50-50. Weeks go by without anyone hitting the big prize in that lottery, so he could find out that none of his tickets win ... and neither did anyone else's. He's improved his odds but he's still taking a big risk.

[CaptRon]

OK. So he wins. How does he find the winning ticket out of 7 million?

[boris]

This is why the CA lottery used to pay out over a 20-year period. At that time the odds were 18 million to one. Suppose the lottery paid off in one lump sum. If the jackpot ever got to, say, 36 million, one could go to a bank, borrow 18 million, buy every possible combination, and give them back $18 million plus interest the day after.

The only downside was that it was always possible that someone also bought the winning combination, in which case you'd have to share the proceeds.

Now CA offers a "lump sum" but it is a fraction of the total payout. They also raised the odds to something like 1 in 50 million or some ridiculous number like that.

--Boris