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Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

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Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#51
post #27
post #18

The obvious equivalent for the HN crowd: "Here is $50k. Now quit your job and start a start-up" Difficulty bonus -- startup idea is generated by a Markov chain and could be anything -- "Uber for dogs", "Taxidermied pets as drones" etc.

Lottery as a service

Get a $1 lottery ticket mailed to you in a nice cardboard box every month for only $11 dollars a year.

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#54
post #47

Free YC 2016 application: Build website to crowdsource $292,201,338. Buy all the lotto tickets. Pay back investors 150% of their investment. Make ~ $69.5M. (assuming lotto tickets are a $1) (someone else can figure out the break even point after taxes)

Don't forget the risk that there may be multiple winners, which would require splitting the jackpot.

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#56

Question: With a jackpot of $800mil and the chances of winning 1 in ~300mil, could you not buy 300mil tickets? (Excepting, of course, the risk that someone else wins and the cost of taxes).

It was attempted before:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/25/us/group-invests-5-million...

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#57

Question: With a jackpot of $800mil and the chances of winning 1 in ~300mil, could you not buy 300mil tickets? (Excepting, of course, the risk that someone else wins and the cost of taxes).

Each ticket costs $2.

Splitting the pot and paying taxes on the lump sum or taxes + time on the annuity means that you likely take a net loss buying all the possible numbers.

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#58

The comment on the site where some people play when it's a high payout more for wanting to participate in the cultural event (i.e. go see Star Wars in theaters) than the expectation that they'll win makes a lot of sense. I think that's mainly why I get a few tickets sometimes when it gets super high, even though I know my chances of winning are significantly worse and my chances of winning at all are almost nothing.

More people buying doesn't change your chances - it potentially lowers your payout.

Makes me wonder if getting more people to play higher jackpots ends up evening things out in the end.

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#59
post #47

Free YC 2016 application: Build website to crowdsource $292,201,338. Buy all the lotto tickets. Pay back investors 150% of their investment. Make ~ $69.5M. (assuming lotto tickets are a $1) (someone else can figure out the break even point after taxes)

I imagine you'd have to crowdsource the purchasing as well. Asking a clerk to spend several days printing tickets might put them off.

Re: Here’s $100. Can you win $800M at Powerball?

#60
post #18

The obvious equivalent for the HN crowd: "Here is $50k. Now quit your job and start a start-up" Difficulty bonus -- startup idea is generated by a Markov chain and could be anything -- "Uber for dogs", "Taxidermied pets as drones" etc.

>"Uber for dogs", "Taxidermied pets as drones" etc.

Obligatory (previously posted here): http://www.aviato.com/quiz

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