Playing for jackpot pool
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lottomaniac649
Member
My reply would not just be, "NO!", but h#*$ NOOOO!!! I just don't think that lottery pools make sense. First, looking down the roster of jackpot winners, it looks like more INDIVIDUALS win than do lottery pools. Second, when you have a winning pool that makes each persons take less than $5M, it makes winning just a really nice experience rather than a life changing experience (those 100 Wisconsin players only pocketed less than a million each...I see why many of them opted to continue working at Sargentos and not at <<< link removed >>>Third, you open the door for unnecessary disagreements and lawsuits (hello first California Mega Millions winners!). Lastly, I wouldn't even join in a lottery pool with my family for all of the above reasons. My thought is that pools are made for swimming, not for playing the lottery. Unless someone has some really compelling statistics that counter my thoughts, I will continue to be a lone star lottery player.
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LottoGroups
Member
Chelsee,
The following are some "compelling reasons" to play in a lottery pool. It is an excerpt from the FAQ from Mario's Lottery Groups:
Is group play for me?
The following is an example that may help you decide. Say you just bought 5 Lotto 649 tickets for the next draw. The jackpot is $20 million. You meet a friend who tells you they have just bought 95 tickets for the same draw as part of a lottery group purchase. Your friend invites you to join the group by simply adding your 5 tickets to the group's 95 tickets. You cannot decide what to do, so your friend offers you the option to decide after the draw. You sign your 5 tickets and the group leader signs their 95 tickets and all 100 tickets are placed in an envelope. The envelope is given to an independent auditor to hold. After the draw is held, the auditor checks all the tickets and reports back to you and the group leader. There are two cases to consider. If the auditor reports that none of the 100 tickets won the jackpot, then your decision on whether or not to join the group is moot. But what if the auditor reports that one of the 100 tickets won the $20 million jackpot and now you are faced with the choice of whether or not to join the group. If you decide to join the group, then you are guaranteed to win $1 million. If you decide to not join the group, then you have a 5% chance of winning $20 million or a 95% chance of winning nothing. In other words, by not joining the group, you are effectively making a $1 million wager on the hopes of winning $20 million. Most people, when faced with that option would join the group and take the $1 million. There are very few millionaires even, that would make that kind of wager. If you are the type of person that would take the guaranteed $1 million, then group play is for you.
Does the above example ever happen in real life?
Yes, it has, several times. The Michigan Lottery sold a series of scratch tickets in 2005 and 2006 where the grand prize was a free trip to attend a live drawing for a chance at $2 million. The drawing was always held at a special event such as half time at a football game or a community carnival. For each special draw, there were only 5 finalists. Prior to the draw, the 5 finalists had an opportunity to meet. In many cases, the discussions revolved around the possibility of splitting the prize evenly among the 5 finalists. Michigan Lottery held these draws between 10 and 20 times. Every variety of situations arose. In some cases, there was no decision to split and a single person won the $2 million. In many cases, all 5 contestants decided to split the money and each person "won" a guaranteed $400,000 even before the draw was held. There was one interesting situation where 4 persons had decided to split but the fifth person decided not to. The draw was held and the group of 4 persons won. The fifth person was like the fictional person in the above answer. He decided to wager $400,000 with the hope of winning $2 million. He was either very rich or very foolish.
The following are some "compelling reasons" to play in a lottery pool. It is an excerpt from the FAQ from Mario's Lottery Groups:
Is group play for me?
The following is an example that may help you decide. Say you just bought 5 Lotto 649 tickets for the next draw. The jackpot is $20 million. You meet a friend who tells you they have just bought 95 tickets for the same draw as part of a lottery group purchase. Your friend invites you to join the group by simply adding your 5 tickets to the group's 95 tickets. You cannot decide what to do, so your friend offers you the option to decide after the draw. You sign your 5 tickets and the group leader signs their 95 tickets and all 100 tickets are placed in an envelope. The envelope is given to an independent auditor to hold. After the draw is held, the auditor checks all the tickets and reports back to you and the group leader. There are two cases to consider. If the auditor reports that none of the 100 tickets won the jackpot, then your decision on whether or not to join the group is moot. But what if the auditor reports that one of the 100 tickets won the $20 million jackpot and now you are faced with the choice of whether or not to join the group. If you decide to join the group, then you are guaranteed to win $1 million. If you decide to not join the group, then you have a 5% chance of winning $20 million or a 95% chance of winning nothing. In other words, by not joining the group, you are effectively making a $1 million wager on the hopes of winning $20 million. Most people, when faced with that option would join the group and take the $1 million. There are very few millionaires even, that would make that kind of wager. If you are the type of person that would take the guaranteed $1 million, then group play is for you.
Does the above example ever happen in real life?
Yes, it has, several times. The Michigan Lottery sold a series of scratch tickets in 2005 and 2006 where the grand prize was a free trip to attend a live drawing for a chance at $2 million. The drawing was always held at a special event such as half time at a football game or a community carnival. For each special draw, there were only 5 finalists. Prior to the draw, the 5 finalists had an opportunity to meet. In many cases, the discussions revolved around the possibility of splitting the prize evenly among the 5 finalists. Michigan Lottery held these draws between 10 and 20 times. Every variety of situations arose. In some cases, there was no decision to split and a single person won the $2 million. In many cases, all 5 contestants decided to split the money and each person "won" a guaranteed $400,000 even before the draw was held. There was one interesting situation where 4 persons had decided to split but the fifth person decided not to. The draw was held and the group of 4 persons won. The fifth person was like the fictional person in the above answer. He decided to wager $400,000 with the hope of winning $2 million. He was either very rich or very foolish.
lottomaniac649
Member
Hello LottoGroups!
Thanks for a good illustration in support of playing lotto in Groups!. Quite interesting.
LM649
Thanks for a good illustration in support of playing lotto in Groups!. Quite interesting.
LM649
higgy
Member
5M not a life changing experience
You need to get a perspective if you don't believe a 5M share is a life changing experience. Hell I'm happy when someone buys me lunch. Perhaps your medication requires an adjustment ? Most people could retire on 1M and pay down their debt significantly for 100k. To put it all in the proper perspective the median income in the US for 2006 was 48k. assuming they start work at 21 and retire at 65 thats is a little over 2m in earnings aver the course of their life.That means a 5m win would triple their income assuming they kept working,double if they retire early.
You need to get a perspective if you don't believe a 5M share is a life changing experience. Hell I'm happy when someone buys me lunch. Perhaps your medication requires an adjustment ? Most people could retire on 1M and pay down their debt significantly for 100k. To put it all in the proper perspective the median income in the US for 2006 was 48k. assuming they start work at 21 and retire at 65 thats is a little over 2m in earnings aver the course of their life.That means a 5m win would triple their income assuming they kept working,double if they retire early.