I bought 5 tickets today.

Yeah baby!!

"" Jack Whittaker won $314 million on
Christmas Day. While Jack pledged
10 percent of his winnings to
charity, the world wasn't so kind to
him. Less than a year after he won,
thieves broke into his car and stole
$545,000 in cash. Another time,
thieves stole $200,000 from his car
(you would think he would find
another place to keep his money).
And if that wasn't enough, a strip
club manager and dancer also
conspired to drug him and take his
money.""



More lottery horror stories here:

http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Lottery-Horror-Stories-33026559

what was that again about the Fool and his Money...............?

At work we are doing a pool so we can get several chances...

Last one we won a whopping $4

The cash payout is now $935 million....or more than the GDP of the country of Grenada....thats according to my local news radio lol

PERSONAL FINANCE
POWERBALL LOTTERY JACKPOT AT $1.5B; WINNING NUMBERS

DRAWING WEDNESDAY

No one matched all six Powerball numbers Saturday night, leading to the astronomical prize.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 10:52AM
Lottery officials say the estimated $1.5 billion prize is not just the largest in the United States, but in the world. A lump-sum cash payment of the winnings would net a single winner $930 million before taxes.

"Biggest jackpot in the history of the world. Absolutely confirmed," Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief said.

BREAKING: #Powerball jackpot just increased again to $1.5 BILLION! Cash value is $930 MILLION! #Texas #TexasLottery pic.twitter.com/PTqVtk9u0x

— Texas Lottery (@TexasLottery) January 12, 2016
Meet the lucky winners of the largest lottery jackpots in U.S. history


A look at the 10 highest US lottery jackpots

Not that there aren't large jackpots elsewhere. Spain's massively popular Christmas lottery, known as "El Gordo," is ranked as the world's richest, though it doles out a single jackpot among millions of prizes, instead of one large jackpot like the Powerball. El Gordo last month showered 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) across the country.

As for the U.S., here's a look at the 10 previous highest jackpots and where the winners were from:

1. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)

2. $636 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013, (two tickets, from California and Georgia)

3. $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013 (one ticket from Florida)

4. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (two tickets from Arizona and Missouri)

5. $564.1 million, Powerball, Feb. 11, 2015 (three tickets, from North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas)

6. $448.4 million, Powerball, Aug. 7, 2013, (three tickets, one from Minnesota and two from New Jersey)

7. $425.3 million, Powerball, Feb. 19, 2014 (one ticket from California)

8. $414 million, Mega Millions, March 18, 2014, (two tickets from Florida and Maryland)

9. $399.4 million, Powerball, Sept. 18, 2013, (one ticket from South Carolina)

10. $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (two tickets from Georgia and New Jersey)

The jackpot is so big that billboards around the country have to advertise the price as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. The lottery computers will handle the decimal point without a problem.

No one matched all six Powerball numbers Saturday night, leading to the astronomical prize. And that is all but certain to grow before the next drawing Wednesday, according to lottery officials.

"We've never been at these levels," said Grief, whose state lottery is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association that runs Powerball.

The odds to win are one in 292.2 million. Seventy-five percent of all the possible combinations were purchased before Saturday's drawing, Grief said, and he expects that enough tickets will be sold to cover about 80 percent by Wednesday. About 95 percent of Powerball tickets have computer-generated numbers.

"I've been in the industry over 20 years, and I've seen jackpots hit when we hardly have any of the potential numbers covered - like 5 percent of the possible combinations covered. And I've seen other jackpots when we've had 95 percent of the combinations covered and it rolls," Grief said.

The jackpot has ballooned since its Nov. 4 starting point of $40 million and spurred huge ticket sales.

In Omaha, Les Wheeler said he probably overdid it by buying $30 worth of tickets for Saturday's drawing with a few friends, but they plan to do the same for this next jackpot.

"I didn't expect to win, but I had big dreams," said Wheeler, 53. He said a new home in another state away from Omaha's 16-degree temperatures were at the top of his wish list.

Saturday's winning numbers - 16-19-32-34-57 and Powerball number of 13 - did gain some people a little wealth: 25 tickets won $1 million by matching five numbers, and three other tickets won $2 million because they paid extra to multiply smaller prizes.

Darryl Collins, of Phoenix, and his husband each won $24 from the 70 Powerball tickets they bought. They plan to use that money toward buying more tickets for the new, higher jackpot. Collins said it was a shock that nobody won.

"It was like only 500 people who missed it by one number," Collins said. "It shows you how hard it is to win."

The 55-year-old real estate agent said he and his husband would definitely share the wealth.

"I would give a lot of it to family and friends," Collins said. "Who needs that much money?"

Michael Montecelo, a security guard in San Francisco's financial district, said he spent $20 on Powerball tickets and hasn't yet checked if he won anything. He said he will buy another $20 worth of tickets even if thinking about winning more than a billion dollars scares him a bit.

"I think I would go into a state of anxiety, but it would be a good anxiety," he said, smiling.

Montecelo, 50, said he would retire and donate some of that money and work on administering the rest.

"I would have to open an office and get a team of experts. I think my job would be to keep tabs on that money," he said. "That would be a full-time job."

The record jackpot lured an unprecedented frenzy of purchases. Between Jan. 6 and Saturday's drawings, more than $900 million in Powerball tickets were sold.

Officials expect similar sales before the next drawing, but Grief said it's hard to predict how excitement about the record jackpot will boost sales.

"It's exponentially greater than any sales that any of the states involved have ever seen," he said.

Here are more details about the big lottery payoff.

CHOOSING YOUR NUMBERS

Looking for ideas on how to choose the lucky numbers? Previous winners have recommended letting a computer decide your numbers rather than choosing significant digits based on birthdays or anniversaries. If you play the lottery often, it's also suggested that you stick with the same combination every time you play. Read more tips from ABC News.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

The prize is based on an annuity, which would pay out the money over 29 years. Or you can take the lump sum cash payment at once, but you'd have to pay the tax.

THE ODDS? NOT GOOD.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 : 292,201,338. For some comparison, your chance of being struck by lightning in a year is about one in 960,000. But as lottery officials often note, you have no chance of winning if you don't buy a ticket.

POOLING YOUR MONEY

Some players feel they increase their odds of winning by pooling their money with co-workers, with a promise to split the winnings. Joining with colleagues and friends can increase the fun of playing, but the odds of winning are so tiny that adding 50 or 100 chances doesn't matter much. Lottery officials recommend that if people pool their money, they put down rules in writing for splitting the prize, as it's easy for misunderstandings to crop up when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake.


http://abc7chicago.com/finance/powerball-lottery-jackpot-at-$15b;-winning-numbers-drawing-wednesday/1155977/

The British one pales really compared to this.

But it got shared on Saturday, 66 million GBP between two winners.

One has come forward to claim their 33 million.

So far no one has claimed the other 33.

The plot thickens

I am not sure..but here we have a year to claim it.
Perhaps the other winner doesn't know it yet.

Or he is afraid to come forward because of leech relatives.

Someone told me that people will even fall on your property here & try to sue you for it (here).

Geez.. Greed

Who Robs A Monk Buying Lottery Tickets?

This is bizarre on many levels of consciousness.

18 hours ago
Steven Hoffer Senior Editor, The Huffington Post

Not the best way to give up your possessions.
A Philadelphia man is accused of robbing a Buddhist monk as he purchased lottery tickets from a gas station.
Security footage shows the 61-year-old victim -- dressed in orange robes -- at a lottery machine on Jan. 3 when he is ambushed by the suspect. Police said that the suspect grabbed about $350 in cash from the monk's hands.
The victim chases the suspect out of the Sunoco station in South Philly and into the parking lot. A struggle between the monk and suspect ensued, leaving the monk with a scratch on his leg.

PHILADELPHIA POLICE
This monk is certainly not pleased that he just had his wallet stolen.
The suspect escaped in a dark silver Ford Mustang with a PA tag of JHY-3783, according to CBS Philly.
The Philadelphia Daily News confirmed with authorities that the victim is indeed a monk.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-robs-monk_56950ba5e4b09dbb4bac8396/ * short video & pic *

"The hype surrounding tonight’s record-breaking Powerball drawing is very much real."

13 Powerball Facts You Should Know Before Tonight's Drawing

ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/US/13-powerball-facts-tonights-drawing/story?id=36272692/

"" Lottery officials said 85.8 percent of possible
number combinations had been selected by
midday, increasing the chances that someone
would win the world's largest lottery jackpot.""
http://abc7chicago.com/finance/powerball-lottery-jackpot-at-$15b;-winning-numbers-drawing-wednesday/1155977/

Went to my fav lil spirits store today and all three registers were 10+ people deep buying powerball tickets.....

If I won that much I would have to help the homeless.

I'd give them all the cardboard boxes off everything I bought

"The odds in matching all 6 numbers is 1 in 292. 2 million "


How late can you buy a Powerball ticket for $1.5 billion jackpot?

The Charlotte Observer http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article54456855.html/

The winning numbers in Wednesday’s record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot are:

8-27-34-4-19 and the Powerball is 10.

The jackpot is the largest in U.S. history.

http://www.duffelblog.com/2016/01/pentagon-spends-10-million-on-powerball-tickets-with-hopes-of-bolstering-f-35-program/

can you say DESPERATE?

Pentagon Spends $10 Million On Powerball Tickets With Hopes Of Bolstering F-35 Program



THE PENTAGON — The Department of Defense announced today that it has purchased five million Powerball tickets at a cost of $2 per ticket, with an aim of providing a funding windfall to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

“This is a minor fiscal gamble, but the Pentagon is always willing to lay out a few extra bucks in order to ensure we continue to have the most advanced military in the world,” said Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, flashing a giddy smile. “Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, and a dozen new F-35s for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.”

The F-35 program has been beleaguered by cost overruns, with a projected lifetime program cost of at least $1.5 trillion. The estimated $1.5 billion dollar Powerball jackpot would amount to only one-tenth of one percent of the total program cost, but it’s an important step in the Pentagon’s search for additional sources of revenue in the face of Congressional questions about the program. With the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot standing at 1-in-292,000,000, the five million tickets give the Pentagon a 1-in-58 chance of winning the jackpot.

A reporter brought to Carter’s attention that the jackpot only totals $1.5 billion dollar jackpot if the Pentagon elects to take the annuity paid out over 29 years, and the alternative lump sum payment would amount to less than $900 million.

“Well, ****,” said Carter. “There’s no sense in taking a 29-year annuity when the F-35 will be obsolete by that time and on the auction block to Iran and Saudi Arabia. But the lump sum payment would still buy three or four F-35s today, I believe.”

The reporter then pointed out the IRS would take almost half of the lump sum payout, leaving the Pentagon with around $500 million. They also noted the Navy’s F-35C variant costs $337 million per unit, leaving the Pentagon able to buy less than two F-35s for the Navy.

“I don’t understand why you guys would even question this,” said a visibly frustrated Carter. “That would still be two more F-35s than we had previously, with a capital expenditure of only ten million dollars in Powerball tickets. That’s a steal.”

Some reporters were critical of the Pentagon gambling taxpayer money in a lottery, leading Carter to become more defensive.

“Look, we’ve already wast—er, expended an extraordinary amount of taxpayer money on this program, so a paltry $10 million is a drop in the bucket,” said a defiant Carter. “No one would have ever noticed this program accruing an extra $10 million in costs if we hadn’t announced it. That’s a damn rounding error.”

As reporters vied to ask the next question, Carter complained, “Gee, I thought you guys would have been more excited about this announcement,” before throwing his hands in the air in exasperation and walking away from the podium.

UPDATE: Duffel Blog has learned that due to a clerical error the Pentagon submitted only five combinations of numbers, with each combination submitted a million times. This has reduced the Pentagon’s chances of winning the Powerball jackpot from 1-in-58 to 1-in-58,000,000. Despite the setback, Carter remains optimistic the Pentagon will now be holding a million winning Powerball tickets.

This is a nice sidenote to this Powerball craze....the franchise owner of one the stores where a winning ticket was bought will give part of his $1 million dollar bonus to feiends and charity....

"" At a media conference in front of the 7-Eleven,
lottery officials presented a symbolic check for
$1 million to the owner of the franchise, Balbir
Atwal, for selling a jackpot winning ticket. He
said he would give some of the bonus money
to charity and share some of it with his friends
and family.""
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0UR2KD20160114

"" Amidst nationwide Powerball hysteria over
the biggest jackpot in history, a Tennessee
family has come forward with a ticket that is
potentially one of the three winners from
Wednesday's colossal $1.6 billion Powerball
drawing.
John Robinson and his wife Lisa bought
four tickets at Naifeh's Food Mart, a
grocery store one block from their home in
Munford, Tennessee, at 6:56 p.m. on
Wednesday night. Robinson, a father of
two, said he bought the four tickets as he
always does to represent the four members
of their family, with the computer choosing
the winning numbers of 04, 08, 19, 27, 34
and Powerball 10.""
http://www.today.com/news/powerball-winners-tennessee-couple-claims-they-won-jackpot-today-show-t67276

"" A woman by the name of Cinnamon Nicole
from Cordova, TN has raised a little more
than $800 in seven hours via her Powerball
Reimbursement Go Fund Me page.
Nicole alleges to have spent all of her
money on purchasing tickets with the
assumption she would win the $1.6 billion
jackpot, but soon realized the winning
tickets were sold in Los Angeles, Florida
and Tennessee suburbs.
Despite the chances of anyone winning the
jackpot being 1 in 292.2 million , Nicole still
decided to go big, and unfortunately now
can’t go home because she allegedly
doesn’t have any money.

'Please help me and my family as
we have exausted all of our
funds. We spent all of our
money on lottery tickets
(expecting to win the 1.5 billion)
and are now in dire need of
cash. With your small donation
of at least $1.00, a like and one
share, I’m certain that we will be
able to pick ourselves up from
the trenches of this lost and
spend another fortune trying to
hit it big again! PLEASE, won’t
you help a family in need.
DONATE NOW.'

For your charitable donations, Nicole
promises to make you her #MCM or
#WCW. Yet, despite the gall of the Go
Fund Me Page, some users simply weren’t
in support of her attempts.
Sonya Hagans quoted new viral internet
star, Michelle Dobyne and wrote “Not
tuhday” while Kenyatta Gibson was a bit
more spirited in her response.
“Guuuuuuuuuuurl…….I
‘SWEATERGAAAAAWD’ if I see one person
give you one rusty copper penny I will
spend ten times what you spent on lottery
tickets on PLANE tickets to fly to their
humble abode so spoiled in riches that they
can afford to make it rain on Sweet Brown
like ratchet humans such as you who
choose to spend their cash on Remy,
Flaming Hot Cheetos, VOSS Water and
Powerball , and commence to kicking every
single one of their azzes!!!”
https://www.yahoo.com/music/powerball-reimbursement-fund-page-created-235504618.html