The Shoutbox
Weird thing with the Lotto in the UK...

I checked the stats a few years back on winners and it was like, 99% of the winners since the Lotto started in 1994 live in the Greater London area.

Basically already millionaires.
Yeah, I was mostly kidding anyway. I know some people who know the odds are meaningless and play it sort of out of fun (scratch tickets and stuff). If it's entertaining and it's not, like, part of a financial plan or done with a genuine hope it'll pay off, fair enough.
Originally Posted by Yoda
Nice try, I know you're way too smart/numerate to play the lottery.

You would think, but sometimes when it gets to be an outrageous sum, I purchase a single ticket, thinking that maybe I really can get struck my lightning. Alas, the lottery is just extra taxes for people that can't do math.
I think also even after you get it turned in and all settled. I wouldn;t even know where to start with a sum like that. It's not like you just toss it in the bank and get back to hanging out. You would need a team of lawyers and finance people just to deal with it, and not to mention, if your identity was revealed to the world, you would be immediately besieged by a legion of long lost relatives, scam artists, and criminals bent of separating you from some or all of the funds. Big money, big problems.
Only then would I think about trying to start the redemption process.
Yeah, I'd go straight to a bank, open a deposit box, sign it while in the safe room, and then take a picture/video of myself putting it in the box.
Yeah, I always think that, about the lottery: how horrifying it would be up until the moment you were able to turn it in.
I can't even imagine waking up to that news.

*checks ticket*

I'd be looking over my shoulder.
Nice try, I know you're way too smart/numerate to play the lottery.
Looks like some scam artist in Michigan stole my billion dollar lottery winnings. Dang.
What should be put to bed is the idea that that was a truly answerable question to begin with.

And I'd only accept a conclusion based on one data point if I had any faith that the conclusion would be reversed had it gone the other way, which is obviously wouldn't have.