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/biz/ - Business & Finance

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1034168 No.1034168 [Reply] [Original]

What's stopping a billionaire from buying a powerball ticket for every combination?

The odds are 1/292,000,000
The jackpot is $900,000,000

Why not just buy 292,000,000 tickets and end up with a $608,000,000 million profit?

>> No.1034172

-they won't sell this many tickets to one person
-billionaires count assets not dollars
-billionaires don't buy lottery tickets

this is like asking why lottery winners don't invest their winnings--if they thought that way they'd have spent their money on investments in the first place

I'm amazed how many people care about lotteries and otherwise seemingly smart people that find a means to justify buying into them.

>> No.1034176

>end up with a $608,000,000 million profit

Don't you mean $608,000,000 profit? "$608,000,000 million" would be $680,000,000,000,000

>> No.1034177

Also tickets are $2. So it would be $584 million.

And you could never pick every combination, it would probably take you weeks to fill out the tickets, so they would have the computer pick.

Computer picks 1000 identical tickets? Your odds just got a lot worse.

>> No.1034180

>because the cash payout, net of taxes, is substantially lower than the cost of buying all possible combinations

>because more than one winning ticket can be sold, which would reduce your payout to 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 or even less

Why is /biz/ not smart enough to figure this out? Hurr durr wud tak tu long ti bye tikets.

>> No.1034181

>>1034168
you guys do realize there is going to be like 500 different payouts of the same number

>> No.1034186

>>1034168
>Standing behind that asshole when you just want a pack of smokes.

>> No.1034188

>>1034168
Lottery tax is so high that the billionaire would have to only put on half of those numbers
So risk 250,000,000 to make 250,000,000. Still not bad.

But here is the worst part. What if someone else also had the same numbers? Then you have to split it.
There are better coin flips a billionaire can do that have the same odds.

>> No.1034198

>>1034177
>picking random tickets

nah nigga

>> No.1034201

>>1034188
>But here is the worst part. What if someone else also had the same numbers?

Did not think of that.

I stand corrected.

>> No.1034212

>>1034176
OP on suicide watch

>> No.1034380

The $900mil jackpot is payed out over 20 years. You only get $400mil if you want it right away.

However, at least one company tried this, nytimes.com/1992/02/25/us/group-invests-5-million-to-hedge-bets-in-lottery.html

>> No.1034384

>>1034180
You're right and all, but Jesus Fuck do you not know how to greentext

>> No.1034386

>>1034198
The computer has a statistically higher chance of picking a winning number combination that a person, even if only by a tiny margin

>> No.1034389

>>1034168
you think theyd allow that ?

you think a cashier at a 7/11 or ABC store is going to print two hundred and ninety two fucking lottery tickets for a guy?

are you that fucking retarded?

>> No.1034392

>>1034389
see >>1034380

>> No.1034406

>>1034168
292mil x $2 = 584mil

Spend $584mil to win $608mil BEFORE TAX = $300mil

Great investment buddy

>> No.1034409

>>1034384
>tells others how to use 4chan properly
>not a giant faggot
Choose one.

>> No.1034437

>>1034409
>doesn't use 4chan
>is a faggot
Choose one.

>> No.1034443

>>1034409
Communication is important, you waffle. I only addressed it because you seemed like the kind of intelligent person who would develop better communication skills because of it.

I guess that's twice I was wrong.

>> No.1034450

A billionaire OWNS the lottery, they don't play it. Retard.

>> No.1034493

>>1034443
>I guess that's twice I was a faggot.
FTFY

>> No.1034545

>>1034168

1) there was a tv show where people did this once IRL

2) If multiple people win then the winner must split the winnings

>> No.1034553

>>1034168
Cash payout is like 550 MM

to buy every combo = 292*2$
Cash spent is 584

Hmm, I wonder why billionaires don't buy all the lotto combos.

>> No.1034570

>>1034180
You'd be able to offset the purchasing expense tax wise. It's never mentioned since usually the expense is $2 and nobody cares.

>> No.1034573

>>1034553
>1034553▶
I think i won!

>> No.1034579

>>1034186
underrated post

>> No.1034628
File: 722 KB, 1364x774, gamblingwut.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1034628

Same principle applied to roulette.

>> No.1034633

>>1034628
What about the zero?

>> No.1034718

>>1034168
And how the fuck are you going to check all 292 million to find the one that won? Dumb frog poster .

>> No.1034723

>>1034718
>And how the fuck are you going to check all 292 million to find the one that won? Dumb frog poster .


Fresh off the boat, from reddit, kid? heh I remember when I was just like you. Braindead. Lemme give you a tip so you can make it in this cyber sanctuary: never make jokes like that. You got no reputation here, you got no name, you got jackshit here. It's survival of the fittest and you ain't gonna survive long on 4chan by saying stupid jokes that your little hugbox cuntsucking reddit friends would upboat. None of that here. You don't upboat. You don't downboat. This ain't reddit, kid. This is 4chan. We have REAL intellectual discussion, something I don't think you're all that familiar with. You don't like it, you can hit the bricks on over to imgur, you daily show watching son of a bitch. I hope you don't tho. I hope you stay here and learn our ways. Things are different here, unlike any other place that the light of internet pop culture reaches. You can be anything here. Me ? heh, I'm a judge.. this place.... this place has a lot to offer... heh you'll see, kid . . . that is if you can handle it…

>> No.1034724

>>1034718
Lol that would suck

>> No.1034762

>>1034723
>someone actually thought this pasta was witty enough to save

>> No.1034801

>>1034168
a group did this in a 1992 Virginia lottery. If I recall right they had some hiccups later in the process and didn't quite cover the whole range of combinations but won anyway. You also have to take into account if smaller prizes are subtracted off or if the prize would be shared and the statistical odds.

>> No.1034841
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1034841

Some centuries ago, France was having trouble financing all those wars and shit and they made a lottery. Basically, people could buy government funds, and then one would be picked at random. There were several tiers, some cheaper and some more expensive. The more expensive they were, the less tickets there were and the more money you got if you won.

Voltaire wasn´t poor, but he wasn´t rich either. Same with his friends.

So they piled up money and got some loans and shit, and bought pretty much all the expensive tickets. They kept reinvesting their winnings until they were accused of fraud and arrested.

The judge admitted that they hadn´t done anything wrong and that the whole system hadn´t been properly planned to avoid that kind of shit, so they were released. The lottery was cancelled shortly after, or modified, or whatever.

Thing is, they all got filthy rich.

Just look at that smile.