I plan to do 5 today just to do it.

Bought $20 worth of scratch-off tickets last night.  Had one $1.00 winner.  So much for my retirement plan . . .

lol, seems like the best luck I've had was just buying 5 or less. I used to play in VA a couple times a month, usually 10 each time. 5 scratchers and 5 numbers, I won $500 on one of them, so I figure that made up for it.

Nah, I just threw $20 out the window on the way home last night...figured it was about the same

Spent $5, won $2.  

Oh well, maybe next year.

CHRIS

First off, please dont get offended by what Im about to say, because Im not criticizing anyone here:

Its a real shame we have the lottery in NC now. I grew up in Pensacola, Fl. were the economy is almost non-existent, but people dump their hard earned money into the lottery and get nothing in return. Not only that, but the public education system, which was supposed to be funded by the lottery, almost went bankrupt. Its a proven fact that most people who play the lottery are poor and what little money they do have gets thrown away for nothing. I hope those politicians who are trying to do away with the NC lottery are succesful.

Once again, I am in no way criticizing you guys for playing, I just dont think the lottery as a whole is good for our economy.

I see where your point is coming from, but nobody forces anybody to play the lottery. I've never seen anyone twisting anybody's arm forcing them to buy a ticket. It is bad when some people can't control them selves and keep hoping for the big one and use up most of their paycheck. Thats just stupidity on their part, but I would MUCH rather see a poor man actually hit it that someone like that jackass Jack Whittaker (or however it's spelled) that was already a millionare and carries around briefcases with half a mil in it and whines when somebody takes it from him or breaks in his house or vehicle, then the next week he does it again. Besides, all the people here had to do was drive an hour or so North, West, or South and play it there.

I understand what your saying. Its a personal thing with me since I had a good friend in high school who had almost nothing because his dad spent all his money on lottery tickets. I also work with a lot of recovering drug and alcohol addicts who spend what small amounts of money they do have on tickets and then bum money off of others for food.

If I win we will have another shoot at Uwharrie and I will have new toys for everyone to try!

My uncle used to be real bad with the poker machines in the convenience stores that "illegally" paid out cash to the players. Those machines aren't set up to let you win but so much and deffinately not let it's self lose money. Well he ended up blowing an entire paycheck on the stupid thing one weekend and ended up have to ask my dad for $1,000. My dad wasn't gonna give it to him because he figured he would just go blow it in the machine so my uncle ended up giving my dad a Browning Automatic Shotgun and a 30.06, both guns together were worth approx $1,800 becuase the shotgun was a special edition or some such. Well, that was 8 years ago and my dad still has the guns and my uncle still does his thing, just not nearly as bad as he used to. I think it's mostly just a personal control issue that people should discipline them selves on and walk away after $10 or $20 or stay away from the game completely.

UH_SALT_RIFLE, if you win one thats big enough, you should have new toys to be handing out to everybody!

My $.02, worth exactly what you paid for it :  Lottery = Stupidity Tax

That being said, I toss about $10 a year out the window on Powerball tickets.  I figure I piss away a lot more that $10 a year on stuff with an absolutely ZERO percent chance of any return on the "investment" whatsoever.  

A 50# bag of 34-0-0 AN is around $9, but can be a hell of a lot of fun.  

Quoted: UH_SALT_RIFLE, if you win one thats big enough, you should have new toys to be handing out to everybody!

10/22's a 38's for everybody!

Quoted: Quoted: UH_SALT_RIFLE, if you win one thats big enough, you should have new toys to be handing out to everybody! 10/22's a 38's for everybody!

I might have to make the drive from the beach for that one......

i won the lottery 3 times yesterday, spent it all drinking last night, but then again i only won $2 $7 and $5, 14 bucks dont go far at Chesters...lol

Quoted: First off, please dont get offended by what Im about to say, because Im not criticizing anyone here: Its a real shame we have the lottery in NC now. I grew up in Pensacola, Fl. were the economy is almost non-existent, but people dump their hard earned money into the lottery and get nothing in return. Not only that, but the public education system, which was supposed to be funded by the lottery, almost went bankrupt. Its a proven fact that most people who play the lottery are poor and what little money they do have gets thrown away for nothing. I hope those politicians who are trying to do away with the NC lottery are succesful. Once again, I am in no way criticizing you guys for playing, I just dont think the lottery as a whole is good for our economy.

You know all of those Hi Point very low cost killing machines (guns) are marketed to low income people that use them for crime to feed there drug habbit.  I really hope those politicians who are trying to do away with the guns are succesful.

Hmmm...

NC is has lottery states on all sides, and for some reason bingo is ok here tho , and money is flowing to the bordering states instead of staying in NC.  The biggest joke of the lottery is people actually believe it will go to the schools.  Yeah 8 billion of the genereal fund goes there now so lets see how this is going to work

before lottery
schools get 8 billion from general fund

After lottery
schools get lottery money + (general fund - lottery money) =  8 billion
general fund increases by lottery funds amount

The schools wont get more with a lottery just the lottery money + a lower amount from the general fund.

I dont care either way about the lottery...

This is not an attack on you, just showing that this logic can be put to a lot of thing in life, even the things we do as a hobby.  Just like your cat scratches one of your kids you get rid of the cat is the same as some one get shot by a gun then get rid of all guns...  

You cant legislate to protect people from themselves.

Remember one thing "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it"

I wont be buying the scratchoffs, they're a waste, I'll the buy the lotto tickets when available, probably a waste too, but my choice of waste I guess.  Been buying Florida Lotto tickets for last 3 or 4 years.  I'm also glad mostly poor people are buying them, they dont pay income taxes so any money the govt can suck from them to pay for govt programs the better.

Quoted: I'm also glad mostly poor people are buying them, they dont pay income taxes so any money the govt can suck from them to pay for govt programs the better.

That's another way of looking at it!

luckly enough ive broke even so far. spent $25 won $25

No one is forcing anyone to play the lottery, it's a choice.  While this may seem un-PC I believe there is a difference in thinking between the "poor" and the "middle class and up."  While there are always exceptions, in general the choices that the "poor" make are part of what keeps them "poor."  It's the difference between an immigrant family who comes here with nothing and builds a great life for themselves, and the immigrant families that come here with nothing and stay poor.  You can make excuses for why that difference exists, but it comes down to fundamental choices.  Most of my classmates in highschool were given the choice of 1.)  Go on to school or 2) Get a job and buy a car.  the ones that chose door number 2 are still driving those same cars, and still working those shitty jobs.  With federal student aid, any one of them could have gone to college.  It's a lot like the military base mentality of blowing your paycheck on strippers and beer the first night, then living off of credit cards for two weeks until you get another check.  Repeat cycle.  

That said, if you want to play the lottery, that's fine.  I play the lottery occasionally, but I realize that the money I spend on the lottery comes from my entertainment budget.  Not the groceries, rent, etc.  I think of it like buying a movie ticket.  

Like Labrat mentioned, it won't benefit the schools, only the general fund.  That's NC politics.  It's not a bad thing in and of itself, but it's too bad that it won't be compensated for by a reduction in taxes elsewhere.  We'll get the same gas/property/income/pet/vehicle/breathing tax hikes just like we do every year.  

I grew up in a Lotto state, and the only thing that bothered me was the long lines at the gas stations every other friday on payday.  Folks would stand there and buy scratch offs one at a time until they ran out of money trying to "hit it big."  Unfortunately, they wouldn't move away from the counter until the paycheck was gone so you had to wait for them to deplete there paychecks.  After it was gone, they'd have nothing to show for it but an empty wallet for two more weeks.    At least now pay at the pump can alleviate that.