By the time these thoughts hit the press, most likely, someone is the newest billionaire in the Power Ball Lottery. As I ponder my options for ‘what if I win . . .’ I realize I must first purchase a ticket. I am unclear why I am unmotivated to make that purchase. In those first days of Lotto Texas, back when the big prize would be just over one million dollars, I was all in to spend $1 to most likely not see a return on my investment. Like many wise investors, I was not a regular purchaser of the biweekly chance to retire at a young age. I also struggled with the strategy of selecting my six lucky numbers or allow the Lotto gurus select for me. In a nonscientific study, no discernable difference was noted in the non-payback of the hopeful investment.
Scattered winners kept a moderate interest in the I-too-can-win participation. Those were the days when you had to prepay for your gas by entering the convenience store and interact with the friendly clerk who also believed regular people can be winners. Eventually, I became a lazy, predictable participant who only invested when the jackpot was over $5 million and just settled for the quick-pick option on my single dollar buy. Over time, it became too complicated to decide what to buy: Do you want to the bonus number? Do you want a scratch off with that? Did you know the Lottery Gods have added numbers to the mix so it is even more difficult to win?
The simple Texas Lotto then morphed into lottos I had no clue about: Mega Millions, PowerBall, Texas Two Step, Cash Five, Cash payouts, 30-year annuities, Scratch This Get That. All the while, the beer and cigarette customers are yelling to HURRY IT UP so they could deal with their own addictions. The pressure to purchase just became too much to deal with and I went on the Lotto wagon and put that $1 in my vacation fund for my Vegas trip. Then the most effective advertising known to drivers got me: A split board with the HUGE numbers announcing the multi-million payouts for one of the above. I felt a fever coming on . . . .
The misguided logic in my head had voices saying, “For a dollar, you could win half a billion dollars! Who wouldn’t take that bet?!” I had to really think through this new investment strategy. Nearly a decade had passed since my last Lotto purchase. I had saved enough money for several Vegas trips where I lost all my investment funds in hands-on gambling. Reinvesting in the local Lotto now made sense, but times had changed. No longer did one prepay for gasoline inside an inconvenience store, so the ticket purchase process needed a dedicated strategy.
First, you have to make that specific stop where tickets are sold, which it turns out is everywhere. Typically, those stops are not the most pleasant of shopping venues. Now that we pay for our gas at the pump, those extra steps to actually go inside a store and interact with a human just seems too much trouble. Not to mention that when I do choose to interact with a human, the human is none too happy to engage in conversation, much less a monetary exchange for a pipe dream. The cigarette and beer folks are still there whining when I take too long to ask which jackpot is for which ticket; and by the way, it is no longer just one dollar.
My partner and I have the continual debate about which is more likely to win: Quick Picks or specifically selected numbers. As we bicker at the counter it seems the winning amount continues to increase as does the agitation of the cigarette and beer folks. We are very inconsistent with our various Lotto purchases. The assumption is we have invested in the big money drawings, but several times, we realized we were losers in much lesser drawings. The lesson is you can lose at any amount of purchase. We also get frustrated at the number of times we have made multiple number combination purchases only to learn not one of our preselected or quick pick selections hit even one number on the row.
The mystery remains how so many folks can make so many purchases and no one wins again and again and again and again to the tune of a nearly $2 billion. So here we sit pondering if it is even worth the effort to make the donation for the chance of being that elusive, life changing winner. By the time we decide, the drawing will once again be over. At least the cigarette and beer people were not delayed in making their purchases. The lesson in all this is to be thankful for the blessed lives we live. In the season of gratefulness, my extra dollars will be donated to a more worthwhile cause where random numbers add up to making a difference for those in need. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. (7, 54, 12, 8, 63 & 30 if you feel like taking a chance.)
