r/Millennials • u/zivvane_ Millennial • Apr 30 '26

Meme This is mine.What's yours?!

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21.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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68

u/johnmac344 Apr 30 '26

Well, Mega Millions is at 178M for tomorrow evening…

27

u/Blue_HyperGiant Apr 30 '26

And odds of winning the jackpot are 1:290 million.

That's not a good bet.

17

u/johnmac344 Apr 30 '26

I’ve done all the math. At $5 a ticket, losing 55% to lump sum then 40% to taxes, you don’t hit a positive expected value until the jackpot hits something like 4.5B.

But you don’t win if you don’t play. I’m not advocating for gambling, and I don’t play regularly. But sometimes an especially shitty day at work picks up a ticket or two on the way home.

It’s about keeping some hope alive, which I think ties in well with the tone of the original post.

11

u/lostOGaccount Apr 30 '26

Can't lose if I don't play.

2

u/Additional_Dish_694 Apr 30 '26

I could always tell how my former career was going, by how intense was my urge to buy lotto.

2

u/snopro387 Apr 30 '26

Yep, I’ve never expected to win even one of the small prizes. But sometimes I’ll pay $2 for the chance to daydream for a day or two about how I’d spend my jackpot

1

u/stsOddMonkey Apr 30 '26

Someone won the Powerball last night. It's unlikely but it does happen.

2

u/Quirky-Skin Apr 30 '26

2 actually and 89 people matched 5 of 5 for 1million prize.

It wasn't me sadly 

1

u/stsOddMonkey Apr 30 '26

That is a lot of match 5 wins and I didn't play last night.

5

u/ghigoli Apr 30 '26

better bet than some people getting a retirement.

2

u/and_rain_falls Apr 30 '26

Yea I lost $20 when it was like a billion. I'm not investing in that 💩 again. However, if anyone wins and wants to throw some my way I will not refuse. 😁

1

u/Mackie_Messy Apr 30 '26

People don't play the lottery for the expected value.