One night last year, a man in Washington, D.C., went to bed tired and astonished after believing he had just won $340 million (!) in the Powerball (https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/powerball-player-denied-340m-lottery-jackpot-over-website-mistake/news-story/c27da90ec1912b562a25ac5eba68d606).
He hadn’t.
Yeahbut, yeahbut! He had all the winning numbers that were posted online, where they remained posted for six hours. But no dice, said the lottery authority: those numbers posted online were “human error.” The numbers read off in the live broadcast, said the authority, were different from the ones posted online: but they were the right numbers, the ones online were wrong. Sorry, Charlie.
Well, now in 2024 the poor guy is suing Powerball and the D.C. lottery administration. Lots o’ luck with that.
He wasn’t really a multimillionaire, so it’s not like he lost anything but a deliriously happy dream (“All it takes is a dollar and a dream”). And maybe a chunk of his sanity.
I’ve always felt there’s something creepy, even sinister, about lotteries. It’s that whole idea of getting something–fabulous wealth–for nothing. Don’t you think it has a sort of pagan smell to it?
I’ve never really made any pagan connections to the lottery concept. I don’t know how they are run in the US, but in Canada, the lottery corporations are all non-profit. Where I live, we fall under the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, which covers all the prairies provinces, BC and the Territories, but each province and the Territories have their own bodies to determine how the money is used. Ontario and Quebec are populous enough to have their own lottery corporations, plus there’s one for the Atlantic provinces.
The money that comes in is strictly regulated in how it is divided among the various prize levels, plus a percentage goes to the retailers where winning tickets were purchased at. Of course, it covers the expenses for offices and employees. The money the lottery corporations generate beyond prize money and expenses is then invested into the province or territory. One priority, perhaps ironically, is education, treatment and support to combat gambling addiction. Other areas that get invested in include hospitals, community centres, colleges and universities, local charities and sponsoring festivals and the arts. Wherever the province or territory determines the need is greatest.
Even our casinos must include fundraising and charity. I once volunteered to work the cash station at a casino to help raise money for a friend’s daughters gymnastics team, so they could afford to go to a competition.
I don’t know… that whole idea of suddenly getting fabulous wealth for nothing–it just sort of creeps me out.
That’s sort of my thought, too. I’m well paid, but I work hard for my money, and I put a lot of years into learning my trade. Even with decades of experience, behind me, I cannot back down.
A few months ago, a friend of mine who does financial analysis told me that the Powerball Lottery was at over a billion dollars. We mused about all of that money, and what it would mean for an individual to receive such a fortune. Upon reflection, I came to the conclusion that winning something like that would not be a positive thing.
If I came into some money, there are things I would do; I’m about due for a newer car, could use a little more storage space, etc. but truly, I don’t want to be wealthy in the sense of buying a Rolls Royce, a mansion or an airplane. I don’t want it. I’ve known truly wealthy people, mansions, fancy cars, even a jet plane, and I don’t envy them, not one bit.
I thank God daily, for what I have, and I strive to live well within my means. I can’t complain.
I have personally witnessed, on more than one occasion, people buying numerous lottery tickets, in a frenzied state. Lotteries are basically a license to dream. Sadly, sometimes people who can least afford it, spend money on numerous lottery tickets, desperately believing that they deserve a win. You can’t win if you don’t play, so they play over and over. I’ve seen people buy $20 worth of scratch tickets, then rush to a dilapidated vehicle to scratch the tickets and see if they won, then run back inside to buy another batch of tickets that they could ill afford … rinse and repeat.
There are several ways to view the lottery. In its most benign form, you could think of it as a large group of people voluntarily contributing to a large fund which is given to one recipient, chosen literally, by lottery. But reality is not so ideal. Personally, I’ve never bought even one lottery ticket; the math just doesn’t work out.
And then there are those who have never won diddly, but who will talk your ear off about A System they’ve discovered which will pay off any day now…
Exactly. I assure you, there’s no system. I have a friend who makes his living analyzing finance, and assessing risks. We’ve spent many hours talking about these subjects and he’s taught me a lot. With the right analysis, you could possibly gain an edge in Blackjack, or maybe know when to cut your losses in some game of chance, but neither of these are a sure fire way of winning.
When it comes to a lottery, the odds are so extreme against winning that you might as well not play. Put in other terms; if you buy a lottery ticket, your odds of winning are only microscopically better than if you didn’t buy a ticket. I’ve heard the advertising pitch that “you can’t win if you don’t play”, to which I say, you can’t lose if you don’t play, either.
In inflationary times, it makes much more sense to use any spare money to buy ahead on durable items. If you see laundry detergent on sale, buy ahead. Likewise, for any item with a long shelf life that you know you will use. Even better, use extra money to pay down the principle of any debts you have. Interest increases the cost of everything, so pay ahead and defeat that interest.
Save a few bucks. Sacrificing one fast food meal per week and putting that money into savings will make your life better. Ben Franklin said that a man has three true friends: an old wife, an old dog, and ready cash. I recently had an unexpected home repair, but I was able to pay for it from savings. That was last autumn, and I’ve nearly paid myself back, already. I could have bought a lottery tickets with that money, but I’d prefer something tangible, even durable.
Back when the lottery was first introduced in New Jersey, I covered the story of a married couple who had pissed away their life savings of $25,000 (they were young) on lottery tickets–and didn’t win bupkus. An officer of the lottery explained that even $25,000 worth of tickets was hardly a drop in the bucket. At that time, that money might’ve sufficed for a down payment on a house.
Exactly. The odds of winning the lottery are about the same, whether you buy a ticket, or not.
We’ve all met people who seem to live in a perpetual state of unreality. They can’t draw the line between what is real, and what is not, and it’s not uncommon for people like this to dream of sudden wealth.
In the real world, most lottery winners end up about where they started, financially, within a few years. That because they believe that they can accumulate possessions at will, and never think of the ongoing costs.
I mentioned getting a newer vehicle. The acquisition cost is only part of the story. My license and insurance costs will increase, and that’s what gets people in trouble. I knew a fellow who leased a Corvette, and by the time he paid the insurance, etc. it equaled his housing costs. Now, I wish this fellow nothing bad, but wouldn’t it have been better had he spent that money paying down his home loan? He could have paid off his home quite quickly, and then been able to buy a Corvette without any financial strain, except that he probably would have chosen to spend his money in other ways, once he had some savings.
And that’s really the point, as I see it. Many people live in perpetual debt, or at least spend every cent as soon as it comes in, somehow believing that some future event will inundate them with more money. That mindset will never get ahead, because they will always escalate their expectations to exhaust their income. You could give them any amount of money, and they’d blow through it.
A much better solution is to keep costs as low as reasonably possible, and use today’s money to prepare for the future. Pay an extra $25 per month on an auto loan, and you will pay off the car quicker, and get more years of service with no car payment. Prepare for expenses you know are coming and you will have less grief. It’s a mindset, and the absolute opposite of the mindset which sells lottery tickets.