DU POLL: Should the Powerball payout be allowed to rise and rise or should the payout be

[RKP5637]

structured to payout to many people, say one million each after taxes. Granted, the ticket scheme would have to be changed.

So, what I'm trying to say is:

I think it would be better if it payed out to a multitude of people than one winner. That way the wealth would be spread and many would have better odds of winning.

7 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Pay out millions to many people.
	1 (14%)
	Pay out millions to one person.
	6 (86%)
	Send your money to the OP!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. It's all mine! Mine, I tell you!

I'm not sharing with any of you losers.

[Travis_0004]

8. Pay it to one person.

The whole reason people play is because of the idea of winning a ton of money. I'll admit, winning even 1 million would be amazing and life changing, but people want the huge jackpots. That's the reason they play when the jackpot is 500 million, and don't play when the jackpot is 12 million.

But with so many tickets sold, there is a decent change there will be more than one winner, so chances are 2-3 people will split the jackpot.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

12. There a a bunch of "down ticket" prizes as well....

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Which is what happened with the $656 million "Mega Millions" jackpot last April

3 winning tickets.

The larger these jackpots get, the more tickets are sold and the more tickets sold means the probability that more than one will hit rises dramatically.

[RKP5637]

13. OK, OK ... you can have it all! Oops, I forgot to mention it was Monopoly money! LOL

[RomneyLies]

2. Spread it out to many, nobody would play and it would never raise in payout amount

The entire premise requires a single payout.

[RKP5637]

20. Good point! It would likely reduce the players and excitement a lot! n/t

[2on2u]

3. Positively, split it up, raise the chances of winning, tickets will sell, more money will be

spread around, and a huge amount won't destroy some peoples' lives. If they split it up so that your odds were considerably higher I think people would buy the same perhaps even more.

[RomneyLies]

7. That's called "Keno"

it pays little to the house and never pays a huge amount. Lots of states run it, but the value to the house is incredibly low and payouts to players are equally low.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. ...

Exactly.

[CTyankee]

4. I don't care. I never play these things. It's a waste of money. The odds against you are

astronomical.

Hubby plays only once in a while when the payoff is really big. I'll coast on his buck....

[RKP5637]

16. I've bought some tickets before, but really, I felt like I was tossing the money in the trash! n/t

[CTyankee]

22. Oh, well, somebody's gotta win, right? Why not you?

[RKP5637]

23. I sure wish it were so! I have a friend that plays these things and wins all of the time, well, not

this one but the small stuff. I'm always amazed, been that way his whole life.

[tk2kewl]

5. cap it at 500M and use the rest for something useful

[lightcameron]

6. No.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Many people already have better odds of winning a million each.

Just look at the Powerball home page;

http://www.powerball.com/pb_home.asp

In the last draw (Saturday) people in 8 states matched 5 for a million each.

Over 2 million people won at least a buck.
Over $25 million was paid out in non-jackpot prizes.

When the cost of a ticket went up to $2 a while back, the odds of winning the jackpot went down from over 198 million to one to the current 175.2 million to one.

Every state that has a lottery has one that offers a million dollar jackpot, often at odds around 25 million to one.

Leave these big lotteries alone. Their appeal is the potential large payouts.

Besides, look how much fun DU is having with the idea, not to mention how much fun it is to think about what you would do with such a windfall.

Being so egalitarian is admirable, but in this case, just leave it be!

[RKP5637]

18. Thanks for the link and analysis!

[graham4anything]

10. $4 million after taxes can last anyone a lifetime of regular living. More is for buying mittens

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. $4 million invested in the worldwide benchmark "risk free security" will pay you.....

$65,000 per year in interest payments.

Those interest payments are subject to normal income taxes.


That risk free investment is, BTW, the Ten Year US Treasury Bond.

(The recently auctioned bonds carry a 1.625% coupon. One million face value of these bonds paying 1.625% is $16,250 and is paid in two installments, 6 months apart)

[glowing]

11. I hope it's me! I would live to do some of the things

I would like to do and see happen in my community!

[Bucky]

17. If I won the lottery, I would buy more socks.

Mine are getting old.

[RKP5637]

19. LOL!!!

[ibegurpard]

24. i don't give a shit

I have better things to do with my money that flushing it down the toilet hoping it will barf up more.

[RKP5637]

25. Yeah, we're in the same boat. Every once in awhile I'll throw a few dollars at it, but I get

nothing back. Not too long ago a friend was here that's a gambler, so they had to hit the casinos. I don't gamble, really know not a whole lot about it all, so I played the slots while they did the heavy stuff. I made about $5 and lost about $8, so I paid my way LOL to the house.

[Historic NY]

26. I would like to win so I can start a new career as a philanthropist.

[RKP5637]

27. K&R !!! n/t

[nydem14499rsgx]

28. paid out to one person

but does it really matter? none of us will win anytime soon....

[RKP5637]

29. Bingo!!! Yep, I know I'll never win it ... BTW Welcome to DU!

[hrmjustin]

30. Welcome to DU!

[DirkGently]

31. Certainly works better as a regressive tax with one big payout.

Fewer payouts means the money gets to sit around earning interest longer. Cheaper for the state; worse odds for the players. Big, infrequent payouts maximize the exploitation. That's why this has been the trend.

[RKP5637]

33. Interesting, thanks!!! n/t

[Hugabear]

32. Nobody should have that much money. Nobody.

That is much more $$$ than anybody in the world needs.

IMHO there should be at least a 90% tax on such extravagant lottery winnings.

[RKP5637]

34. Yeah, I agree. At one time we had that to keep a capitalistic system in line and

they managed to erode taxation over time.