I’m reasonably confident that I’ll win. In addition to setting up family member payouts, I’ve also lined up contracts restricting them from asking for more in the future.
We should have had a cc pool.
A modest amount of $5M-$10M would be nice - but some hundreds of millions is hard to imagine winning!
I plan to buy a ticket or two today.
I’m willing to share a lot of the winnings! I don’t need that much.
A local radio host told his audience that people should NOT base their entries on month dates, because that limits your range of numbers from 1 to 31, and the possible numbers go a lot higher than that. I emailed him about how I appreciated his lowering my taxes, and to point out that he has just as much chance winning with 1-1-1-1-1 as 1-7-28-52-65. 1 in 292.2 million. “The best strategy is not to play.” That’s from a math professor - http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2013/09/18/2834457/ He says the chance is about the same as being struck by lightning ON ANY GIVEN DAY.
I’d rather spend a few bucks on Starbucks (which is also a waste of money!).
We don’t get out of bed for less than half a billion dollars, lol.
So yes, We bought one ticket last night when we went out for ice cream. Just one, because you’d have to buy a bazillion to increase your probability of winning.
Mainelonghorne–I’m not an expert on these things (never bought a ticket in my life), but i’m pretty sure that 1-1-1-1-1 is not a valid ticket, so you’d have an infinitesimally tiny but real better chance in that second instance. (or maybe I’m wrong, and you can repeat numbers on Powerball? )
See , I view buying a ticket to getting a coffee , convenience store bottle of water when out and about. I get it that the chance of winning is extremely low , but no chance at all if I don’t buy a ticket…I can spare $2 for a dream
I bought tickets this morning. It’s silly to even think about it, but after thinking about it, you know, $800mm is too much! Lump sum will be around $500mm cash. What is a person going to do with that? You would be crazy to just drop it in your bank or brokerage account. What if you died? (Estate taxes!!!) You would be forced to hire tax specialists, wealth managers, body guards. They could award 8 prizes of $100mm each and still give the winners more than they would know what to do with. I know its unAmerican to suggest that any amount is too much. After all, it’s not enough to buy an NFL franchise, not enough to self finance a run for the Presidency… but it might be enough to win a congressional seat… certainly enough to BUY a few politicians. 
^^^I thought about the same thing. Would I just deposit the check in the ATM? Would the bank put their usual hold on it?
And then when the publicity got out, you would have to hire a full time security force. First purchase would have to be a house behind guarded gates or a private island. Problems, problems.
I like that in MD, winners can remain anonymous.
I’m hoping for one of the smaller prizes.
OK, change that to 1-2-3-4-5!
This just fascinates me. I can see “a dream,” but at those odds? I think I would rather go to Vegas and play slot machines (on our last cruise, I “invested” five dollars and made an extra ten, then stopped).
As far as being “too much”, since our tickets are part of a group of 20, when I win, it will be a much more manageable sum of money, 
I bought some tickets yesterday. We only buy them about once a year when the payoff is ridiculously high. We rarely even win a few dollars, so I’m not expecting much tonight, but it’s fun to imagine winning (except for the extra security, the lack of privacy, etc.)
If I get one in time (and I may…), and when I win, I’m buying this
http://www.windermere.com/listing/WA/Bellevue/9211-SE-Shoreland-Dr-98004/36910781
You all are invited to visit. Hard to resist a house that comes with a floatplane lift…the listing says it has disability access, so probably an elevator for our future needs, plus a pretty flat backyard for the area. Then we can have a thread about what to do with those outdated bathrooms!
All the rest of you go ahead and pick low numbers. If I buy a ticket, I’ll pick high numbers. I won’t have a better chance of winning, but if I do win, I have a better chance of having all the money to myself. My expectation is higher if I pick unpopular numbers.
I wouldn’t worry about security: I’d be off somewhere while my house was being renovated.
Seriously, the first thing I would do is give thanks to the universe and tell H he can quit his job. The second thing I would do is call a few close friends and family and tell them. Then I’d call my minister and talk to her about how to handle it and remain true. Next, I’d get together with a legal/accounting/investing team. The next thing would be to find somewhere fabulous–and fully staffed-- to rent that could accommodate a number of my friends, family, and all of our dogs, so that we could celebrate and draw breath. And make more plans.
BTW, H was once behind someone in a line at a store and heard the person in front of him buying a lottery ticket: 12345. H has never bought one. He calls it a tax on idiots. I am nevertheless prepared to be gracious when I win, LOL.
What are the wise things to do in the first 12 hours to secure the ticket and your money if you win the jackpot tonight? Can you trust anyone when you show that person the ticket?
I do not refer to it as “buying a powerball ticket”.
It is called “seeking funding for an apartment on Central Park West”.