Do any of you play the lottery?

Investor · Ridgecrest, CA · Member since 2017 · 246 posts · 120 votes

I stopped playing the lottery a long time ago. Even then I only played the large jackpots. I'm finding myself tempted again. There are two huge jackpots right now totaling 2.6 billion dollars combined.

If I won either of those jackpots I would have instantly smashed my lifes financial goals. I would have to quit my day job so I had time to invest the money properly. You cant just have billions of dollars sitting in a bank.

If I won first thing I would do is pay off my moms house. Then I would buy a large lot of land over 200 acres somewhere with a pleasant climate and start building my house. Then its time to start investing the money.

12 Reply

368 views

Most Popular Reply

Anthony GaydenPro Member

Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes

I agree with Dave Ramsey. The lottery is a tax on poor people. I don’t play.

Podcast Guest on Show #21

49 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

177 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
Moderator
Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
7y
I play when they are this big just for the fun of it. I know I have better chance of being hit by an asteroid than winning the lottery but I do not bank on getting the $ back. Fun to dream what to do with it.
7e investments53 Reviews
Website View Page
17 Reply
Michaela G.
Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Maybe twice a year I spend $ 10 to get some quickpicks when the jackpot is large.
I never win, but that's ok. It's just fun to sometimes participate and dream.
10 Reply
Anthony GaydenPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
I agree with Dave Ramsey. The lottery is a tax on poor people. I don’t play.
Podcast Guest on Show #21
49 Reply
Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
7y
I don't even know how or where to get a ticket or if I can even play the big stuff in my state. I guess that would be a NO.
0 Reply
Bill F.
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Whenever I hear talk of the lottery I think of a phrase similar to what @Anthony Gayden used from a Brother that taught at my high school that I've never forgot:
"The lottery is a tax on the stupid"
That puts me firmly in the no camp.
13 Reply
Michaela G.
Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Bill F.:

Whenever I hear talk of the lottery I think of a phrase similar to what @Anthony Gayden used from a Brother that taught at my high school that I've never forgot:
"The lottery is a tax on the stupid"
That puts me firmly in the no camp.
That can be said about anything that has a price tag and is only for fun. Some people pay $ 100 for cable tv every month. I don't have a tv and spend maybe $ 20/year on lottery tickets. If you never spend any money on fun stuff, it'd be a pretty dull life. It's all good in moderation.
49 Reply
Russell BrazilBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
7y
I spend $5 or $10 when the jackpots get this big. Mostly its just fun so I can fantasize about how to invest the money .
[email protected]301-893-4635 Podcast Guest on Show #192
District Invest Group546 Reviews
Website View Page
18 Reply
Greg H.Pro Member
Moderator
Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
Purely entertainment for me. I either buy when the payout is great or when a tenant sends me the rent via Western Union as the machine is right in front of me
5 Reply
Bill F.
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Michaela G.:

Originally posted by @Bill F.:
Whenever I hear talk of the lottery I think of a phrase similar to what @Anthony Gayden used from a Brother that taught at my high school that I've never forgot:
"The lottery is a tax on the stupid"
That puts me firmly in the no camp.
That can be said about anything that has a price tag and is only for fun. Some people pay $ 100 for cable tv every month. I don't have a tv and spend maybe $ 20/year on lottery tickets. If you never spend any money on fun stuff, it'd be a pretty dull life. It's all good in moderation.
At least with cable the consumer gets something for their $100. When I go the craps table to lose my money the casino has the decency to ply me with free drinks.
You have a better change of winning an Oscar (1: 11,500) and then being murdered (1:18,000) right afterwards (11,500*18,000= 207,000,000) than winning yesterday's $1B mega millions (1:258,890,850)
To each their own. It's a free country and everyone can spend their own money how they please. Though there is a significant subset of major lottery winners whose lives got measurable worse after winning millions and millions of dollars.
6 Reply
Jim C.
Investor · Soldotna, AK · Member since 2015 · 103 posts · 64 votes
7y
Somebody's gonna win, why not me?
A family member has 4 close friends that each won multiple millions on different lotteries, winners are out there
5 Reply
Brandon Hicks
Investor · Avilla, IN · Member since 2013 · 796 posts · 769 votes
7y
@Tom R. No. Never. Honestly...one of my biggest pet peeves is hearing someone say “when I win the lottery” or something similar. So many people these days believe that their only shot at being wealthy is a lottery windfall. And that’s a shame.
9 Reply
Adam Odom
Columbia, SC · Member since 2014 · 133 posts · 190 votes
7y
@Bill F. So you're telling me there are more oscar winners that have been murdered than lottery winners? I may have to call shenanigans on you there! You dont just multiply odds of different events :)
17 Reply
Lee S.
Northern, CA · Member since 2014 · 674 posts · 444 votes
7y
Don’t play, but not against doing it for fun like going to a casino. However, and I don’t have the data to back this up, I think it is overwhelmingly the poor that play lottery and visit casinos (outside of tourist destinations like Vegas).
What I don’t get is why people say they only play the big jackpots? As if 10 million wouldn’t change your life? Always seemed silly to me saying “no way I’ll risk $5 to make 10 million but hell yeah for 1.5 billion!” Head scratcher.
6 Reply
Dean H.
Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2016 · 202 posts · 305 votes
7y
I play when they when they get above a couple hundred million. Someones going to win and heck with that much money I could buy a jet sled and still pay for the wife's beer. LOL
0 Reply
Bill F.
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Adam Odom:
@Bill F. So you're telling me there are more oscar winners that have been murdered than lottery winners? I may have to call shenanigans on you there! You dont just multiply odds of different events :)
I'm sorry, but anytime I hear shenanigans I think of Super Troopers. Totally not threatening to pistol whip you btw.
I never said there are more murdered Oscar recipients than lottery winners. I stated an individual has a better chance of winning an Oscar and then being murdered than they do of winning yesterday's mega millions.
Never said anything about this having happened.
With independent variables you do multiply the odds.
If you prefer math, for independent events [PA&B]= P(A)*P(B).
9 Reply
Shiva Bhaskar
Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 523 posts · 476 votes
7y
Did play fantasy football, and with my luck, player selections and injuries the past year or two, I might as well be playing the lottery - luck hasn't been much better!
0 Reply
John Lambert
Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2018 · 15 posts · 15 votes
7y
@Tom R. Watching the local news last night, with the lotto up just under $1B, someone said "Your odds of winning the big one were about as good as being attacked by a shark in Iowa". And that isn't likely to happen.
2 Reply
Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
7y
The lottery is a cynical tax on the hopeless, the desperate, and the poor. I have been all three of these things and I flatly hate the lottery. One of my favorite things to do is imagine one or another of the people I don't like hooked on scratch-offs. I think the statistic is that 20% of the population believes that their only chance in life to reach a net worth of at least two million dollars is to win the lottery. But when your individual income is below $24,000/yr, there is a 38% chance that you believe this. If I really, really don't like someone, I'll buy them twenty bucks in scratch-offs for Christmas and offer my sincere hopes that they win. I once saw a guy I detested at work win a hundred bucks on the tickets I gave him. I became his instant best friend, and and I know it sounds unreal, but he rushed right out to buy more tickets with his winnings. Surprise, he's even broker now than he was when I met him, and every now and again, he blows money on scratch-offs. Christmas is coming again, maybe this time I'll go for fifty bucks to get him really hooked.
10 Reply
Scott Moulton
St. Louis, MO · Member since 2018 · 26 posts · 23 votes
7y
Originally posted by @Jim K.:

The lottery is a cynical tax on the hopeless, the desperate, and the poor. I have been all three of these things and I flatly hate the lottery. One of my favorite things to do is imagine one or another of the people I don't like hooked on scratch-offs. I think the statistic is that 20% of the population believes that their only chance in life to reach a net worth of at least two million dollars is to win the lottery. But when your individual income is below $24,000/yr, there is a 38% chance that you believe this.
If I really, really don't like someone, I'll buy them twenty bucks in scratch-offs for Christmas and offer my sincere hopes that they win. I once saw a guy I detested at work win a hundred bucks on the tickets I gave him. I became his instant best friend, and and I know it sounds unreal, but he rushed right out to buy more tickets with his winnings. Surprise, he's even broker now than he was when I met him, and every now and again, he blows money on scratch-offs. Christmas is coming again, maybe this time I'll go for fifty bucks to get him really hooked.
This is great. Totally buying my former boss's wife some scratchers this year!
4 Reply
Teresa Oss
Rental Property Investor · Little River, SC · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 3 votes
7y
I played the lottery today. I probably won't win but if I do I have a clear vision after these hurricanes I only have four rentals and I had about 40 responses to one of my rentals and the red cross called me about affordable rentals. I feel bad...never thought I would feel that about rental properties but I wish I had more. Anyone reading please invest in Brunswick county..affordable rentals...people need their pets and to spend 1200 or less....
3 Reply
Wyatt Adamson
Rental Property Investor · Pocatello, ID · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 2 votes
7y
@Jim C. Sounds like that family member has all the right friends.. ;)
1 Reply
Earl Hatmaker
Specialist · Dayton, OH · Member since 2018 · 59 posts · 41 votes
7y
@Tom R. We buy “scratch and sniffs” for our kids (theIr eaened money from allowance, not dIrectly ours anymore) when we road trip. We call them that because, as were tryIng to teach them, the only high is off the lead on the ticket you scratch off. There’s no research imvolbed (we drIve for dollars as a famIly) or ROI, so no my wIfe and I don’t play personally, but we do enjoy teachIng the kiddos about losing.... Life lessons from an early age. Still innocent and worth $20 a year!
0 Reply
John W.
Rental Property Investor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 257 posts · 130 votes
7y
The chance of winning is basically zero and I don't like those odds. I also agree that generally, lotteries and casinos attract the poor and ignorant. If you really want to destroy an area, put a casino there. If I was going to bet and didn't mind losing money, I would bet on fights or Texas Hold'em or something along those lines.
1 Reply
Todd Powell
Rental Property Investor · Corvallis, OR · Member since 2018 · 840 posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Tom R. Fun to fantasize about but cannot bring myself to spend a dime on it I think I have a better chance finding the golden ticket to the willie wonka chocolate factory Besides, I have seen several people I know that got severely hooked into gambling when they just merely “had fun” and started to gamble. Greed is real and easy to chase get rich quick. RE is slow gains over time, well maybe fast gains too! Lol
1 Reply
Diana Dorantes
Rental Property Investor · Channahon, IL · Member since 2018 · 161 posts · 103 votes
7y
I’ve heard as long as I remember “somebody’s gotta win”. Not me, did play a in my younger years. Young and dumb! Wealth is created by our choices ......big as well as what may seem small.
Dreams and goals are in our DNA. I can dream without playing the lottery. ; D
1 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.