Lotto 6/49 $49,851,871.00

[Bertuzzied]

To this day whenever i choose my own Lotto 649 numbers i choose #42 because of Sergei Makarov. No other flames numbers though.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

What are your thoughts about charity lotteries? Same thing as 649 and Super 7?

I like to buy $250 in tickets for the cancer one

I think there's a few differences, A friend of mine won a house in Valley Ridge (Foothills lotto) a few years back and had to keep it for a year for some reason before selling it.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Prototype

I've heard of people buying 2 tickets for the same draw, with the same numbers. That way, if the pot is split... instead of 1/whatever, they get 2/whatever. Not sure if it's legal, but that's their thought process.

I don't know why that would be illegal, and if they had the winning numbers, they should win a double share.

However, that's just bad reasoning to start with. It's much better to double your chances of winning by playing two sets of numbers, then trying to win a bigger share in the case of a split pot, by playing the same numbers twice. That would only really help you if you had two of of three, or two out of four tickets. Two of of two winning tickets doesn't help you anything, and two of of a larger number of winning tickets means you only get two out of the smaller shares, not a huge difference. Plus, the difference between 2M and 4M isn't nearly as big a change to your lifestyle as the difference between the person's regular job and the 2M.

Of course, playing the lottery in the first place is bad reasoning to start with.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by T@T

I think there's a few differences, A friend of mine won a house in Valley Ridge (Foothills lotto) a few years back and had to keep it for a year for some reason before selling it.

Has to wait a year to claim it as a principle residence to avoid capital gains tax. (I think)

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Titan

Has to wait a year to claim it as a principle residence to avoid capital gains tax. (I think)

Ya, that is the reason. I would be selling at the 366 day mark, just to avoid the tax hit. The bad part is that you also have to move in for that year and make it your principle residence (at least on paper).

[Titan]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

What are your thoughts about charity lotteries? Same thing as 649 and Super 7?

I like to buy $250 in tickets for the cancer one

If it is a charitable donation with a potential upside it is all good. That is how I look at it.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Slava

Ya, that is the reason. I would be selling at the 366 day mark, just to avoid the tax hit. The bad part is that you also have to move in for that year and make it your principle residence (at least on paper).

Hmm... Win the house worth $750 or whatever. Sell your old house and pocket the cash. Throw your junk in the new house and take a leave of absence for a year and get rid of whatever travel bug you might have.
Get back, sell the house, buy something that suits you and get your ass back to work. Guaranteed you're still up a few hundred thousand.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Hmm... Win the house worth $750 or whatever. Sell your old house and pocket the cash. Throw your junk in the new house and take a leave of absence for a year and get rid of whatever travel bug you might have.
Get back, sell the house, buy something that suits you and get your ass back to work. Guaranteed you're still up a few hundred thousand.

There are worse things to worry about for sure! I wouldn't be complaining too loudly if I were in this spot, I'd just rather have the cash sooner!

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

What are your thoughts about charity lotteries? Same thing as 649 and Super 7?

I like to buy $250 in tickets for the cancer one

I have no problem with charity lotteries. It goes to a good cause. But buy yoiur tickets and take pleasure in knowing that they're helping children's charities or something. You may say now that this is similar to regular lotteries, but it's different.

But people who throw around 10-dollar bills weekly (there are lots of those) for regular lottery tickets and then try to justify it by saying it buys them a dream, I dunno. I read once that Alberta has the highest amount of per-capita tickets in the country (something like around $8-$10 per person). That's insane. If someone wants to be a millionaire, I or Slava can show you how. It's pretty well ensured that you'll get there, rather than a dream that will almost certainly never materialize.