How do lottery retailers make their money? [more inside]
posted by Grither on Aug 26, 2009 - 23 answers

Why is it that most winning lottery tickets seem to be sold at small mom and pop stores in small towns as opposed to chain stores in larger cities? [more inside]
posted by nougat on Jun 15, 2009 - 14 answers

Lets say you win a very large lottery (ie +$50 Mil), and you decide to just take the whole thing in to your local small town bank, what would that large of a deposit to do the bank?
posted by ShawnString on Aug 28, 2008 - 7 answers

One in three chance you'll win a free pop, check under the cap! Does anyone audit these advertised odds? [more inside]
posted by PercussivePaul on Sep 20, 2007 - 6 answers

Statistics/Lottery question; Please settle this argument between a friend and I about the Florida state lotto. [more inside]
posted by boyinmiami on Aug 2, 2007 - 26 answers

Beating the lottery system for kindergarten slots in the top Washington DC charter schools- is this possible? [more inside]
posted by mistsandrain on Jan 16, 2007 - 9 answers

North Carolina starts its new statewide lottery next week. Is it reasonable to assume that in the early days the lottery company will offer more than the usual number of small prizes as a way to get folks excited? I saw this thread, and this comment that claims it's true the odds are better at the start of new games, but I'm looking for evidence of actual lottery practice.
posted by mediareport on Mar 22, 2006 - 1 answer

Many lotteries (see Powerball) increase the size of their potential jackpot over time. Assuming a $1 ticket cost, is it cost-justified to buy one ticket for every drawing when the value of the payout is greater than the odds against winning? [more inside]
posted by stopgap on Oct 13, 2005 - 27 answers

Just today our engineering students society found $5000 in a safe we didn't know we had. Now we've got to spend it, preferably in some useful and/or awesome way. Do you have any suggestions on what a students society might want to spend it on? [more inside]
posted by sirsteven on Sep 9, 2005 - 20 answers

What's the best way to invest a half-million dollars? [more inside]
posted by five fresh fish on Jul 8, 2005 - 30 answers

What's up with scratch tickets? Are they just as much of a scam as the regular lottery? Are some a better gamble than others? Does anyone ever make any money off of those things?
posted by agregoli on Jan 31, 2005 - 26 answers

I know that I'll never win the lottery. But if I did should I take the "yearly payout" that grosses more or the smaller but all at once option? It's really not that clear with things like the interest or inflation etc. So which is best?
posted by Napierzaza on Nov 24, 2004 - 10 answers

What can people tell me about scratch lottery tickets? [more inside] [more inside]
posted by Slimemonster on Jul 9, 2004 - 10 answers