Game over

We didn't win on the last ticket. Oh well.

Still in it for three more drawings

We won another $3 on the last tickets, so I re-invested for the next three Powerball drawings. Our last chance to hit it big!

Update

I've been quiet for a while, mostly because I've been away from the office and not really concentrating on our winnings. So, here's the deal: I re-invested the last of our winnings, as you can see below.

I'm not expecting any great returns on these last tickets, but I'll check on them until they're done and re-invest one last time, if necessary. After that, I'm out. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be working on John Street, and all of this has been a rather thankless task. For those of you who have thanked me, you're welcome. But for the rest of you, who have tended to nag at me about this, well, you can find someone else to do the work from now on. Indeed, if someone else wants to take over, I'd be happy to pass along the reins of this blog, etc.

In sum, for the rest of the duration of this lottery experiment, good luck to us all. After that, well, you're on your own.

Lottery simulator

Some clever folks have come up with a way to see how you would do if you spent money on the lottery:

Incredibly Depressing Mega Millions Lottery Simulator!

While their numbers are chillingly accurate, I think that they're really just a bunch of party- poopers.

Woman Looking for Excuse to Play Mega Millions Wins Mega Millions

Woman Looking for Excuse to Play Mega Millions Wins Mega Millions

It could happen to us...

Your re-investment

A re-investment from long ago. But still, the MegaMillions is over $100M!

Good luck to us all!

And how much did we win?

Here's where it gets a little complicated.

I buy the tickets for what amounts to 90 days out (13 weeks). However, you can check your tickets at a newsagent machine for up to only 45 days. I think of this as sort of a hot dogs vs. hot dog buns dilemma. Since I was doing a lot of travel in April and May, I missed that first 45 day cut off. This meant that I had to wait until the end of 90 days to take them into the lottery office, where I usually redeem them at the end of the cycle. This time, they told me that the only way I could redeem them was to mail them to Schenectady. So, in July I did exactly that. sending off the tickets in two batches. I have received the check for one of the batches, a total of $51. I am still waiting for the next check, which I can only imagine will arrive soon. In the meantime, I will turn this around and re-invest for a few more weeks before we start collecting again. Technically, we have been out of the running for a few weeks, but the jackpot has been really puny for most of the summer, and I haven't felt too bad about this.

Tickets from March

The first one (in black and white) is left over from the previous round.

The others, in vibrant color, are from this round.

Who is entered in this round (the one that started in March?)

Yes, it has been a while since I have updated this blog. But no, I did not run off to Brazil with your money, tempting as that might have been.

For starters, here's the list of everyone who took part, all 49 of you:

From the 10th Floor:

Linda A.

Susan B.

Alan B.

Linda D.

Randi E.

Laura F.

Nancy G.

Deena G

Steve H.

Peter H.

Julie J.

Scott K.

Regina K.

Vivian L.

Steve L.

Mark M.

Len M.

Todd P.

Marilyn P.

Marion P.

Gillian S.

Joan S.

Amy S. /Madelon R.

Michelle S.

Christopher S (me!)

Judith T.

Evonne T.

Neil T.

Susan V.

Marc W.

Dom Y.

And from the 11th Floor:

Susan C.

Sylvia F.

Michelle G.

Janet G.

Effie G.

Elizabeth G.

Martin J.

Jean K.

Regina M.

Andrea P

Felicia R.

Marilyn R.

Susan S.

Ilene S.

Alan S (Ilene's brother)

Irwin S.

Mary V.

and Linda M. from TLC.

Future Millionaire ALJs: March 2010 (this time in convenient FAQ format)

How much did we win last time? An even $100!
How much money are you asking for? $26, just like always. This covers two drawings a week for thirteen weeks.
Can I pay with a check? No, cash is king!
When do you need it by? Friday March 19.
Who will take my money? Me or Joan.
What's the deal with Powerball? It's just like MegaMillions, but with different states. In this round, we'll have tickets in both lotteries, so that if one jackpot gets big, we'll already be invested. See, we're diversifying, just like responsible investors!

The first of the fill-in tickets for March 2010

More to come next week.

Our winnings from the round starting November 2009

How much did we win? $100 even. I have re-invested half for the next three drawings (tickets to be posted soon), and I will invest the remaining money for the following three drawings, which will take us to the next round.

Hooray for us!

First winning of this round

I checked the numbers from this round. We have won $38. The best part: when the machine scans the tickets and detects winning numbers, it plays the first bars of the tune "We're in the Money!" There were also $3 in winnings from the last round. I am making an executive decision to roll that money into the additional winning from this round. So, for now we have $41 extra to invest in February when the current tickets run out.

A humorous interlude

From an on-line cartoon I follow:

Two stragglers

Judith C. and Marion P. both joined the cause today, and since the first drawing on the other tickets is tonight, they are on the same schedule as the rest of us.

And below is the most recent set of lucky numbers:

And here are the tickets I bought

Don't they just look lucky?

The future winners of Winter 2009

Thanks to Joan's efforts (and mine), we have a record number of "investors" this round. I have just returned from the corner newsagent with $1,196 worth of lottery tickets. That's $26 x 46 players. If you're being particular, it's only 45 players, as Ilene S. bought one for herself and one for her brother, Elizabeth G. bought one for herself and one for her grandchildren, and Amy S. and Madelon R. are sharing a share.

So, who is on the honor roll?

From the 11th floor, in no particular order: Robert A., Susan C., Tim D., Sylvia F., Sharon Fr., Janet G., Michelle G., Effie G., Elizabeth G., Deena G., Steve H., Jean K., Felicia R., Ilene S., Joan S., Irwin S., Mary V., Regina M., Marilyn R. and Sharon Fi. (welcome aboard to those last two).

From the 10th floor: Linda A., Susan B., Linda D., Randi E., Ethan F., Julie J., Peter H., Regina K., Carolyn K., Viv L., Steve L., Linda M., Mark M., Len M., Gillian S., Amy S., Madelon R., Michelle S., Christopher S. (me!), Evonne T., Neil T., Susan V., Scott K., Laura F., and Sue Z. (welcome to these last three).

Good luck to us all!

The last tickets from the summer round. For real this time.

So I cashed in the last tickets as shown in the last post. We won $4. I added this to the $13 I had left over from the last round and bought these tickets. If we win big on these tickets, the big winners will be the folks who were in the summer round, not the new folks who just joined up this month. Just to be clear.

The last tickets from the summer round

These will last us until Thanksgiving. Insert harvest metaphor here:

MegaMillions for the Win(ter)!

After a slow start, our investment has begun to pay off. However, the time has come to buy more tickets. As per usual, the amount is $26, which will be good for at least 13 weeks’ worth of drawings, more likely longer if past experience is anything to go by. You can pass along your cash to me at 66 John on the 11th floor Mondays and Tuesdays and on the 10th floor on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I believe that Joan will also be collecting, so you can give your money to her, as well. The deadline is Friday 27 November (the day after Thanksgiving) at the close of business.