VERY INTERSTING BLOG POST COMPLEMENTED BY MANY INTERSTING COMMENTS, GREG! I do wonder whether you and others who did buy tickets double-checked all the numbers. I read an article about the MILLIONS OF DOLLARS that are NOT claimed because buyers do NOT check numbers in terms of winning one of the smaller prizes. In fact, several $10,000. prizes have NOT been claimed. The article reported one GRAND PRIZE worth millions which was never claimed. So... if you still have your ticket(s) - double-check. Here we go... John W. Eyster

I bought five bucks worth of tickets but only one powerball , one mega , one supercash , one badger 5 and i still havent taken em down to be scanned yet , but its worth 5 bucks every now and then to take a chance . you Won't win unless you play .

I thought about this long and hard and came up with, Thank God I did not win. If I had won then all the family memebers who do not like me now or never talk to me unless trapped into it, would suddenly be trying to contact me and of course they would give me their hard luck story of their life. And then would expect me to just dish it out and rescue them. Well, I would have had news for them, sorry, if I am not good enough when I am in my normal mode of being middle class then I am not good enough when I am a multi millionaire. And of course then there are all the hundreds of people who would claim that they are my friends and again, here comes the hard luck stories. I don't think so. I surely would be generous to those who know me now, and who care about me now but not to the strangers who would claim to be in my life.

So for me, Thank God I did not win.

Odds, schmods....I get more than two dollars worth of daydreaming entertainment whenever I buy a lottery ticket. Winning would just be icing on the cake.

'Do people know that the higher it is the more people are playing and the odds of winning are much less? Duh'

Ha. Duh indeed:)

I have never bought a lottery ticket. My probability of winning the lottery is very slightly less than that of someone who buys a lot of tickets

I know someone who is on SSI (71 years old) and living with a caregiver. He spends over $500/yr on tickets. He can never save enough money to buy anything, and until everything was gone he was selling his stuff for extra cash for tickets. Ironically, he doesn't know how to play any of the games, and others have to tell him if he's won.

Half the money goes to a good cause, property tax relief, and even though I haven't won big yet , I take satisfaction in knowing I've helped make a difference in a lot of ordinary people's lives by contributing to the big jackpots.

Sigma, the odds of winning do not change because more more tickets were sold. The odds are based on the number of possible combinations of the numbers which are used. That doesn't change when more people participate. The odds of being the single winner will change but not the odds of winning. That remains constant, roughly 1 in 175 million, regardless of the number of tickets sold.

I cant believe how many people went and bought lottery tickets because the pay out was so high. Do people know that the higher it is the more people are playing and the odds of winning are much less? Duh. Play when its a couple million and your odds will be much better..

So, Greg,
unlucky in lottery,
lucky in love?

I'd like to thank all those folks who willingly contributed to a slightly higher lottery property tax credit than I would have had. Not that it will help much, since the city council and the school board will gobble it up with tax and fee increases that are much higher than any lottery credit increase would ever be.

I'll check my numbers when my property tax bill arrives, and I see how much lottery tax money I've "won".

I did not buy a ticket. None of the numbers I would have played came up.
The saying that your lottery odds are the same if you buy a ticket or not seems to apply.

I bought one ticket...no numbers matched here either, but hey it was fun and didn't cost too much for a chance at millions. I know the odds are against ya but hey it was only $2 for a little fun.

A few dollars isn't going to break the bank so I bought a couple of tickets. Of course I'm out a few dollars like most of the rest.

I voted against the lottery
and have never bought a ticket.
I do, however, reluctantly accept the credit
on my property tax bill.
;-)

You covered me Greg---exactly. I too asked for 2 tix and thought $2 would cover it. Not! Then as you said I had 0 matches.

No it wasn't.

Five and a half gallons of gas down the drain.

Better luck next time Greg ! I had 20 bucks worth and only hit 2 numbers. It was worth a chance !