# Lotto 649



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I got four numbers plus bonus for $61.70. (Bonus didn't count here) One more number and it would have been $128.000. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I have always thought it was criminal on those wins. You get 4 numbers on these things they should be throwing a minimum 100K at you, especially with a bonus number as well


----------



## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I won $97 on the Super 7 about four years ago. 

I have reason to believe they eventually got it all back......


----------



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Probably still your best return on investment as far as taxes go 



butterknucket said:


> I won $97 on the Super 7 about four years ago.
> 
> I have reason to believe they eventually got it all back......


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

I got 5 of 6 in the 649 two years ago. That is 3rd prize since 5 of 6 plus the bonus number is 2nd prize.

I got $1060.00

...but all I could think of was "one more number and I would have had $3.5 million" because there was no jackpot winner that draw.


----------



## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

My former roommate used to tell me that lotteries were taxes on people who don't understand math.

I play on occasion, but I'll buy a ticket maybe 3 times a year.


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> My former roommate used to tell me that lotteries were taxes on people who don't understand math.


There are all kinds of different philosophies regarding lotteries. The one absolute is that you will not win if you do not have a ticket. With the amount of *money wasted on whatever multiplied by ten* these days, I'll buy a ticket.


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Did I post here about my encore win last Christmas?

I had all 7 numbers, except the last two were swapped. I had 81 and the number was 18 (if I am remembering it right, but that's the gist of it)

The difference? $500 as opposed to a million.

Now, 500 bucks is great, but having those same last numbers just in the wrong order is like a slap in the face. It really takes the wind out of a $500 win. Which sounds wrong to me, but it's true.
If it had been 42 or something else completely different, I'd be dancing around about the 500.


----------



## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> My former roommate used to tell me that lotteries were taxes on people who don't understand math.
> 
> I play on occasion, but I'll buy a ticket maybe 3 times a year.


i had service man who did a fair amount of work for me around the apartment building. He belonged to a religious group who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons. The pastor or what ever they called their leader told the flock that lotteries were a tax on fools. After a few such comments from him I said to him you can be arrested and go to jail for not paying your taxes . I have never heard of anyone who was arrested and sent to jail for not buying a lottery ticket. I never again heard of the tax on fools or any reference to a lottery being a tax..


----------



## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

I used to tease my dad about his weekly lottery ticket purchases, citing the amount he could have kept & invested over the course of 25 years. Then he won $300K. Some beach.....


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> I got four numbers plus bonus for $61.70. (Bonus didn't count here) One more number and it would have been $128.000. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!


There are a lot of ifs in the lotto game. Did you know lotto stands for a lotto losers?


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I always say "I won $5.00 this week", by not buying a lotto ticket. 

I do personally know 3 people that have won pretty big prizes though, one of them a $13 million prize, but shared among coworkers. He still got over a million.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I only buy tickets when I'm having an absolutely miserable day, or an unbelievably great day. I figure one of two things will happen: either the course of my day will continue, unabated, or else there will be some sort of cosmic balance in the universe, such that "the opposite" will happen with the ticket. And I'm always right; it's either the same or the opposite. Happily, that insight costs me maybe $4-6 a year, or about the cost of a disappointing side-salad.

My late father in law won $10k on Lotto Ontario, but we figure that he had probably spent well over that, over the years, on tickets.

One of the primary mechanisms of maintaining gambler investment is fostering a sense "Oooooh, missed it by THAT much!". So the gap between payouts for 4 and 5 numbers are deliberately engineered to foster comitment to the game. Same way that slot machines don't just show you how the tumblers ended, they deliberately show you the process of juuuuuuuuuuuussssst missing the winning combination. The sense of proximity to "the big one" is what keeps people coming back.


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

mhammer said:


> My late father in law won $10k on Lotto Ontario, but we figure that he had probably spent well over that, over the years, on tickets.


That is likely quite common. Here's the thing though...you pay your money and you take your chances. As long as you aren't using your food money or your electricity bill money then it is really of little consequence. Many people drink more money in a weekend than I spend on the lottery in a month. Those who don't drink might donate to a charity (even the Canadian Cancer Society uses 80% of what it collects to fund raise so those people are paying for the fundraising machine) or perhaps throw the money into a church collection plate.

There's no doubt that the money often goes 'down the tubes' so to speak but I'd rather have my name in than out and I don't want to fund career fund raisers or anyone's god, nor do I want to habitually try to shut down my liver or be addicted to any drug. $30 per week on the lottery is pretty minimal when all is said and done. I know a lot of people who play the lottery but I only know of a few gambling addicts and they are the ones who sit in front of machines pressing buttons broke all of the time.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I always liked "The Babylon Lottery" by Jorge Luis Borges. Worth reading. http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/borges02.htm


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

StevieMac said:


> I used to tease my dad about his weekly lottery ticket purchases, citing the amount he could have kept & invested over the course of 25 years. Then he won $300K. Some beach.....


This story made me chuckle. I think I've bought a scratch ticket once, that's about it.


----------



## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

I count myself as being among the 26% of Canadians certain they will retire on lottery winnings! But just in case, I am keeping my music skills sharp. lol!


----------



## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

the wife and i play $5/week. if we win anything at all, she only buys $5/week. this year we played about 4 or 5 months for free. she would hit for $20 or something, and then just before the $$ ran out, she would hit again. back home, the only people who ever seemed to hit the lottery were foreigners and old people. that's why we play here. we're both foreigners, and we ain't gettin any younger. we hope to hit the big one right after it becomes pointless.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Budda said:


> This story made me chuckle. I think I've bought a scratch ticket once, that's about it.


My sister (now deceased) used to buy lottery tickets every week. She was always poor. She won $10,000.00 on one occasion and $1000.00 a year or so later. However, I know she spent well beyond that amount over the years. If she would have put that money in a saving's or retirement account, it would have been so much more beneficial to her.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I know I really hate getting behind a lottery addict at the corner store. Standing there while the geek behind the counter checks a hundred tickets for them. Then another 10 minutes while they hand pick another 20 scratch tickets. Going through them like it makes any difference


----------



## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

...and having to watch these people grow more and more agitated as it becomes obvious they didn't win a dime when they were near certain they picked a winner..."check them again, check them again". DOH!



GuitarsCanada said:


> I know I really hate getting behind a lottery addict at the corner store. Standing there while the geek behind the counter checks a hundred tickets for them. Then another 10 minutes while they hand pick another 20 scratch tickets. Going through them like it makes any difference


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I know I really hate getting behind a lottery addict at the corner store. Standing there while the geek behind the counter checks a hundred tickets for them. Then another 10 minutes while they hand pick another 20 scratch tickets. Going through them like it makes any difference


I agree wholeheartedly! I must say, though, that some of them will recognize they are hogging the clerk's time and will allow me to step in. It should be standard practice to tell these gamblers that they need to step aside while customers who are actually in a hurry get waited on first.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

> It should be standard practice to tell these gamblers that they need to step aside while customers who are actually in a hurry get waited on first.


or 12 steps.....


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> I agree wholeheartedly! I must say, though, that some of them will recognize they are hogging the clerk's time and will allow me to step in. It should be standard practice to tell these gamblers that they need to step aside while customers who are actually in a hurry get waited on first.





shoretyus said:


> or 12 steps.....


I'm sure that the guy who wants his cigarettes feels the same way. $10 per day on banging nails in your own coffin or a few dollars a week just for the chance? I'll throw my few dollars in for the chance.

The point is that there are a lot of problems and the lottery is a pretty damn small one IMO.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

smorgdonkey said:


> I'm sure that the guy who wants his cigarettes feels the same way. $10 per day on banging nails in your own coffin or a few dollars a week just for the chance? I'll throw my few dollars in for the chance.
> 
> The point is that there are a lot of problems and the lottery is a pretty @#!*% small one IMO.


Well, to each his own, I guess. To those who buy lotto tickets, in a way, I have to say thank you, as it keeps my taxes a bit lower. Regards, Steadfastly


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

during hockey season, on saturdays i do a pro-line,
and also grab a 649.
some weeks i dont, i just forget to, but its 2 or 3 times a month.
when hockey ends, i dont play pro-line, so i might buy a 649 once a month in those months.
ive gone on streaks where i havent had to pay for them for 2 months, just rolling over small winnings/free tickets.
got the 4 numbers on 649 twice, at around $75 each time,
and one year, won just under $100 four weeks in a row on pro-line. 
i dont feel like a fool when i buy the tickets. or when i win nothing.
i dont even think about it really. its $4 a week at the most.

on those same saturdays, i also might spend a little more than i need to on something nice to make for supper,
because i lived like a dog all week and its the first proper meal ill eat since the previous weekend.
i also might go spend $3 on an electrical component i can buy online for $1- just because id like to spend that saturday afternoon working on a new project. 
is that like a stupid tax too? because if it is, im like, throwing away about $15 a week on useless shit.
i guess i should be saving that money- to buy drapes or end tables or one of them $200 fuzz boxes.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

smorgdonkey said:


> I'm sure that the guy who wants his cigarettes feels the same way. $10 per day on banging nails in your own coffin or a few dollars a week just for the chance? I'll throw my few dollars in for the chance.
> 
> The point is that there are a lot of problems and the lottery is a pretty damn small one IMO.


I dont mind the dude who wants to buy a pack of smokes, that takes about 30 seconds. I do mind fools that come in there with a stack of tickets which could be checked at home or at the store through the self scanner. I think its ignorant for anyone to make the clerks scratch those things and check them. Problem is, the addicts have so many they find it too time consuming to do it. They don't even have any fun with the things. The odd time I have ever grabbed a Bingo card I actually play bingo man. 

When I see them at the counter with one of those blue plastic lottery envelopes bulging, I know I am in trouble. When you get to that level its a gambling addiction. You dont have to be in a casino for that to be diagnosed.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I dont mind the dude who wants to buy a pack of smokes, that takes about 30 seconds. I do mind fools that come in there with a stack of tickets which could be checked at home or at the store through the self scanner. I think its ignorant for anyone to make the clerks scratch those things and check them. Problem is, the addicts have so many they find it too time consuming to do it. They don't even have any fun with the things. The odd time I have ever grabbed a Bingo card I actually play bingo man.
> 
> When I see them at the counter with one of those blue plastic lottery envelopes bulging, I know I am in trouble. When you get to that level its a gambling addiction. You dont have to be in a casino for that to be diagnosed.


Scott: I'm a window cleaner by trade and used to work in Brampton. I had this plaza that had a convenience store and just about everytime I was there, an elderly man who couldn't speak English was buying lotto tickets. I had several locations in that plaza that I cleaned the windows for, so I was there 1/2 hour or so. This man would go in and buy several tickets, come outside, check them, throw them in the garbage can, go in for some more, etc., etc. I felt sorry for the guy. He was obviously addicted and looked quite poor from the way he was dressed and here he was just flushing his money down the drain. I often wondered how many more guys are there like him? Likely thousands.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Steadfastly said:


> Scott: I'm a window cleaner by trade and used to work in Brampton. I had this plaza that had a convenience store and just about everytime I was there, an elderly man who couldn't speak English was buying lotto tickets. I had several locations in that plaza that I cleaned the windows for, so I was there 1/2 hour or so. This man would go in and buy several tickets, come outside, check them, throw them in the garbage can, go in for some more, etc., etc. I felt sorry for the guy. He was obviously addicted and looked quite poor from the way he was dressed and here he was just flushing his money down the drain. I often wondered how many more guys are there like him? Likely thousands.


It's really unfortunate that for many people gambling is something that is seen as a way out of financial problems. But in reality it just makes it worse. Gambling is like the stock market. If you can't afford to lose the money, don't get in on it. If you are gambling to come up with rent money you are doomed. Lotteries and scratch tickets can be looked at as soft gambling but it can add up fast. We still pick up $5 a week on the 649 or the lotto max if we happen to remember and sure it would be great to win it but you have to realize that the chances of hitting that is obscenely remote.


----------



## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> Scott: I'm a window cleaner by trade and used to work in Brampton. I had this plaza that had a convenience store and just about everytime I was there, an elderly man who couldn't speak English was buying lotto tickets. I had several locations in that plaza that I cleaned the windows for, so I was there 1/2 hour or so. This man would go in and buy several tickets, come outside, check them, throw them in the garbage can, go in for some more, etc., etc. I felt sorry for the guy. He was obviously addicted and looked quite poor from the way he was dressed and here he was just flushing his money down the drain. I often wondered how many more guys are there like him? Likely thousands.


I agree there are probably thousands, I have seen many people who can't afford shoes for their kids, are late with their rent or don't pay it at all and then run to a government agency for money. You are not going to change that. I have seen little old ladies in Las Vegas, Reno and Tahoe spend so much money gambling I want to scream, but you know what it's their money. Some of us can afford to play lotteries and others can't, who decides which one of us can play those games, you, me or the government. I spend a fair amount each week it doesn't bother me or my wife in fact no one gives a damn what I spend, but then it's my money. I don't go to night clubs. casinos, pubs and I don't ski or play golf, this is part of my entertainment.


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> Well, to each his own, I guess. To those who buy lotto tickets, in a way, I have to say thank you, as it keeps my taxes a bit lower. Regards, Steadfastly


You're welcome!!



GuitarsCanada said:


> I dont mind the dude who wants to buy a pack of smokes, that takes about 30 seconds. I do mind fools that come in there with a stack of tickets which could be checked at home or at the store through the self scanner. I think its ignorant for anyone to make the clerks scratch those things and check them.


I was saying that the guy who wants to buy the smokes feels the same way that people do about the lottery guy. I only take tickets back to the store that are winners. I only buy my tickets when the lines are short or none at all. If there are a lot of people in the store I don't even cash in winners, I just put them away for next time. The place that I go to has a laundry facility in it and the store part is not really very busy.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

fredyfreeloader said:


> d I don't ski.


Now, that is really too bad!


----------

