Report: Georgians are ’suckers’ for the lottery
There’s a sucker born every minute, and there’s a good chance he lives in Georgia, according to a recent study. 
BloombergBusinessweek reports Georgians are No. 1 at being bad with money, earning the Empire State of the South the top ranking in its latest Sucker Index.
It’s our love of playing the lottery (Reminder: World record $640 million jackpot drawing tonight!) that’s set us up for ridicule.
Americans spend $50 billion a year in tickets for state-run games, which have the worst odds of any form of legal gambling, writes Bloomberg.
Georgia residents spent an average $470.73 on the lottery in 2010, or 1 percent of their personal income, while they received the sixth-highest prize payouts, 63 cents for each dollar spent, the Sucker Index shows. Only Massachusetts had higher spending, $860.70 per adult, more than three times the U.S. average. But Massachusetts players are luckier, they won back 72 cents for each dollar spent.
The article throws salt on the wounds by saying Georgia’s per capita income is about 10 percent below the U.S. average, and that lower-income residents tend to buy a disproportionate amount of tickets.
And we’re not slowing down: The $640 million frenzy prompted Georgians to buy $6.6 million in Mega Millions tickets on Thursday alone, compared to normal Mega Millions sales of around $2 million for an entire week.
How do the Sucker Index rankings work? Bloomberg took the total spent on ticket sales in each state and subtracted the amount of lottery prizes awarded. The difference was divided by the total personal income of each state’s residents.
Using that formula, the top five Sucker Index states are: Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, South Carolina.
Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick said Bloomberg’s story is “demeaning” in a guest editorial appearing Sunday in the Augusta Chronicle.
Reddick said the Georgia County Guide reports that Georgia’s 10 poorest counties accounted for less than 1 percent of Georgia Lottery sales in fiscal year 2009.
That may be true, but I’d surmise the 10 poorest counties in Georgia represent less than 1 percent of Georgia’s wealth as well.
I play the lottery, and will continue to do so. It’s fun to think $1 could become $1 million overnight. If I was poor, I’d probably play more.
Hope, the emotion and the scholarship program, is a powerful thing.
Note: Updated March 30, 2012.
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129 comments Add your comment
FN_JERK
March 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
Welfare goes a long FN way does it not?
FN_JERK
March 19th, 2012
12:43 pm
I am on welfare.
Ivory
March 19th, 2012
12:45 pm
No reason for the School system to be in the shape that the are then; unless our fearless leaders are corrupt! MFer’s!
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
12:45 pm
I DONE WISH WE HAD CASINOS HEAR OAR HORSE RACIN!
A person SMART enough to know......
March 19th, 2012
12:47 pm
We spend all that money and the HOPE isn’t working?
spinoza
March 19th, 2012
12:47 pm
This is unsurprising and yet quite sad. This lottery scheme is a means of redistributing income from the poorest to the middle and upper classes by the state government selling false hope to the those most desperate and mathematically illiterate.
I wish the state had citizens who cared enough about education to just pony up the money through state taxes. But the with the mindless and corrupt GOP and the support it enjoys there is no hope for that.
Blue Fender
March 19th, 2012
12:51 pm
HOPE isn’t working due to all the corruption with the lottery. All the skimming and lucrative pay raises for officials are turning it into a mafia type business.
On My Way
March 19th, 2012
12:52 pm
Hey, at least we’re #1 at something!
LOL
March 19th, 2012
12:57 pm
We all know what class of people are buying the tickets!
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
12:59 pm
Enter your comments here
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:00 pm
GA DEFENATELY NEED SUM CASINOS 2 KEEP FROM HAVING ALL TESE RETRADED KIDS IN SCOOLS!
Nimrod
March 19th, 2012
1:00 pm
These are the same idiots who clamor for casino, horse racing, dog racing, possum racing and tobacco spitting slot machines.
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:02 pm
HEY SLOT MACHINS AT PUBLICS AND TEXACOS WOULD BE GRATE 2!
A person SMART enough to know......
March 19th, 2012
1:02 pm
LOL…you mean the HOPE and CHANGE fools?
trystme
March 19th, 2012
1:03 pm
The lottery is a regressive tax disguised as a game.
ROCK STEADY FREDDY
March 19th, 2012
1:09 pm
The Lotto is nothing more than a poor man’s tax. PERIOD! The one’s making money off it are Politicians and the one’s running it.
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:11 pm
THE LOTTORY IS GOOD 4 THE SCOOLS SO DONT BE TLAKING BAD ABOUT IT HAVE U SEEN SUM OF THEES DUM KIDS THEES DAZE?
A person SMART enough to know......
March 19th, 2012
1:12 pm
I guess we should change the Lotto phrase “You can’t win if you don’t play” to “You can’t win if you do play”.
Billy Rod
March 19th, 2012
1:12 pm
At least I am not as high of taxes as I could be for all the welfare baby-mama’s that treat the vagina like a clown car.
Zombie Steve
March 19th, 2012
1:13 pm
bring on the casinos, already!
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:14 pm
I WON $500 LAST MONTH SO U 2 CAN WIN. I BOUGHT ANOTER $200 OF TIX BUT DIDNT WIN N E THING. I SPENT THE REST OF THE MONEY ON SMOKES AND SOME JACK DANELS!
Billy Rod
March 19th, 2012
1:15 pm
@Zombie Steve
Casino’s are for the more well heeled gambler. Craps play’s more complex than street dice. If they ever put a casino downtown, we all know craps will be replace by dice and they will and quarters as a game. This state is not sophisticated enough for a real casino.
Shawn
March 19th, 2012
1:16 pm
I thought the Florida sucked above Georgia.
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:20 pm
I NO SUM 1 IN FLA AND THERE LOTTORY IS BETER THATN GA LOTTORY NEXT TIME WE GO TO PANAMA CITY I WILL STOCK UP.
unearned praise
March 19th, 2012
1:21 pm
The amount of money the lottery execs make is absurd. The lady that is the chief “taker” of big salaries and big bonuses is allowed too much leeway. It all starts with the Lottery board that has the power to do something about it, but in normal political fashion, doesn’t.
I don’t play for that reason and the odds.
Jimmy
March 19th, 2012
1:22 pm
They can well afford to buy all the lottery tickets they want.Their food is free,their health care is free, their cell phones are free,and their housing is almost free.They are not the suckers,we are because we are paying for everything including their damn lottery tickets through welfare checks.
Sparks
March 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted, but people have to take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences of those actions. The govt has no business legislating morality. Gambling and prostitution are two readily thought of businesses that should be legalized. Temptations of “sinfulness” have always been with us. The decision to indulge is a personal one that shouldn’t be decided by govt or representatives of organized religion. True freedom is something few people understand these days.
JonathanP
March 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
Dawg, you should be an example of why our lottery and its Hope contributions are a failure.
PD
March 19th, 2012
1:27 pm
@JonathanP
You’re just jealous that that dude’s creative writing ability far exceeds your own!
FLUSHLIMBORTZ
March 19th, 2012
1:30 pm
I bought $100 worth of scratch-off last weekend and didn’t win a FN thing. They are not paying out a freaking thing. Who is stealing the FN money?
Joke24
March 19th, 2012
1:30 pm
Any money that doesn’t go towards strippers and drugs is pretty much a waste if you ask me.
All in good fun
March 19th, 2012
1:30 pm
The lotto is good fun every once in a while. I am by no means poor, but I still like to play the big games (Mega Millions, Powerball) when the jackpots get over $150 mill. I know I am not going to win, but it is a good way to get your imagination going. I think the odds are something like 1 in 175 million
Frank Furter
March 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
You gotta be in it…to win it !!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Quite-Devils/189460134436969
wompuscat
March 19th, 2012
1:34 pm
I know the odds of winning are against me. But think of my odds if I don’t have a ticket.
This is a Joke
March 19th, 2012
1:34 pm
If Georgians are a sucker for the lotto, then why is HOPE broke. That means someone has their hand in the cookie jar. If that is the case, why is the education department so messed up. This is all a joke.
Contractor
March 19th, 2012
1:37 pm
This doesn’t surprise me, especially when I see black people I work with going to the store to play Cash 3 twice a day every day, and poor white trash blowing money on this crap. I enjoy gambling like most (I prefer casinos over the lottery), but the issue is how the lower class waste all of their money on this, and I can promise the world around half of that toal in the article is government money being used to buy tickets. You don’t have to like what I said, but we all know it’s true.
So Tired of BS
March 19th, 2012
1:37 pm
I prefer to think it’s a return of my tax dollars given to the “less fortunate”, the very same ones occupier and thief keeps referencing. It is the perfect way to tax the stupid. The lottery has and
always will target the weak of mind and character. Until you get rid of the moochers who only seek
to steal from the producers we will continue to have idiotic programs such as the lottery.
BTW, no more paid pre-K. If the state ever really did an investigation they would find that it is largely just paid day care. The lottery should only pay for students who produce. That means that average and ordinary won’t cut it. In public schools no student taking a basic college prep curriculum would be allowed the HOPE their first 2 years of college. A GPA of 3.5 or above would be required to become eligible for honors and AP courses and would be required of ALL HOPE recipients. That would eliminate a ton of people who really are not college material anyway.
FLUSHLIMBORTZ
March 19th, 2012
1:39 pm
One thing for sure. DAWG aint no Hope recipient. He should be arrested for mutilating the english language.
Common Cause
March 19th, 2012
1:39 pm
Makes you feel good about Georgia. How much of the money was SSI, Disability, Unemployment, and plain government give out programs. Obama, save us….
darb
March 19th, 2012
1:40 pm
The lottery is nothing but a tax for stupid folks
Robbie
March 19th, 2012
1:40 pm
Is rooster fighting still legal? I remember watching it with daddy and grandpappy when I was younger. My pappy always could choose the winner, he always had the biggest in the ring.
Joke24
March 19th, 2012
1:41 pm
So what are u saying Contractor? That blacks only play cash 3 because they cant count to 4? I dont get your point.
LaQuidra
March 19th, 2012
1:42 pm
No need to get racist. Im black and I buy lottery tix. So what? Some day I will win and I can quite my job at Arbys
D'Cornbread
March 19th, 2012
1:44 pm
A y’all making this a blank thang, oh hell no. Everyone in my city of Atlanta workplace plays, and we have one token white guy
Joke24
March 19th, 2012
1:45 pm
Black strippers are the best, they know how to shake that booty
Jay
March 19th, 2012
1:46 pm
We’re also first in bank failures and alternate with Las Vegas being tops in sex trafficking. But look on the bright side, UGA is also the number one party school in the country. We’re in the top five of housing foreclosures, but that’s balanced by finally passing a law requiring pickup truck drivers to wear seat belts (dead last in the country to do this). Are we also still first in illegal arms sales?? Top top it off, Atlanta is home to the woman with the biggest chest in the country. (Now, that’s according to SPIKE TV. I believe this could be so, considering …)
Do the Math
March 19th, 2012
1:47 pm
If the average is over $470 per year, and I have spent exactly $2 ever on lottery tickets, somebody is spending considerably more. I think the motto for any lottery should be “Hey, we’re a voluntary tax for people who are really bad at probability!”
Contractor
March 19th, 2012
1:47 pm
Joke24,
My point is that lower class blacks and whites are the suckers and that they are using their government money to pay for lottery tickets instead of using the money for what it is intended for. Try reading a little more into what I posted before you comment and make yourself look stupid. And for all I know, Cash 3 is the only drawing that is done twice a day, and black people are always trying to win it, so they play every chance they get. This is from what I’ve seen and actually been told by the same individuals I speak of at the job site.
ThanksAbunch
March 19th, 2012
1:48 pm
I would like to personally thank the people of Fulton, Dekalb, and Clayton Counties for paying for the lottery sponsored educations for high income whites in Cobb County. Thank you so much!!
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
March 19th, 2012
1:48 pm
JAY U MUST BE AN ANGRY LOOSER TECH FAN
LaQuidra
March 19th, 2012
1:50 pm
I dont like some of these comments about us blacks and our playing the lottery. If the white man did not pay us so pourly we would not have to play the lottery to suplement our income.
Lil' Willy
March 19th, 2012
1:52 pm
I plays da lotteri every day and I dun once wun me sum fify dollar. So all you boughie people know where you can shuv your tude.
Jay
March 19th, 2012
1:52 pm
For the record, the people I see buying lottery tickets are white.The Lottery spokesperson is correct: the story is demeaning, but we need to own it. If she is as well paid as her bosses, what else could or would she say?
Texas Tea
March 19th, 2012
1:55 pm
Laquita,
Sounds like your spelling is as poor as you wealth. Makes pretty good sense how that goes hand in hand.
hornblowermg
March 19th, 2012
1:56 pm
i don’t know anyone who has won big in the lottery, nor do i know anyone who knows anyone who has won big. does “the lottery” actually have big winners like they claim that they do. i doubt it. the most blatant example of outright theft ever devised.
LaQuidra
March 19th, 2012
1:58 pm
You done spelt my name wrong. I bet U R a nascare redneck!
rally
March 19th, 2012
2:01 pm
and this is exactly why I am POed at the lottery. It is a tax. I don’t care what people say. It is a tax that doesn’t give out the prizes it claims to offer anymore. That died years ago. I have won a total of maybe a grand in the ten years I played and lost about 4 to 5 grand trying to play. I should have realized they were broke. That was my own stupidity. The lottery is not getting one more IOTA for me….you corrupt pieces of turds who game the system in your favor. You lost control of the accounting years ago…I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldnt figure out how much you really had in the state coffers.
Nathan " I am Crook, Bad" Deal
March 19th, 2012
2:06 pm
Come on folks ya’ll voted for me despite all my crooked dealings. And the lottree is just another means of me stealing from you backwards folks. Mary at the lottree just funnels all the money to her district and by fooling you folks on these yer lottree numbers. But we found a new way to steal that money by starting the Zell Miller Scholarzhip Fund, ya’ll know the one that goes to GA TECH..Oops! But then again, I also had to pay for Oakie Woods, and my Daughthe’s BAD land DEAL!
Now that I have my cronies all lined up for these yer positions we can surely make more money besides this lottree!
Dee
March 19th, 2012
2:10 pm
Oh, man. This is true. I have a aunt who plays the lottery every day, religiously. I’ve told her, even shown her all the money she’s wasting each month playing the lottery and scratchers. Even if she wins five bucks, she gets even more hooked. Like Bingo, it’s an addiction.
dre
March 19th, 2012
2:18 pm
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE – LOL, I am just waitin’ fer sumone ta tayk thuh bait, haha
Joe
March 19th, 2012
2:20 pm
Am I the only one that realized that 10 Million people in Georgia (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.html) times $500 per person average equals 5 billion, not 50? How can you trust an article that discusses facts but gets the facts wrong?
A person SMART enough to know......
March 19th, 2012
2:28 pm
@Joe GEORGE MATHIS is from GA and probably educated in Ga Government Schools and then UGa probably so please don’t fault him on his Math Skills or the lack there of.
Hope Graduate
March 19th, 2012
2:28 pm
Lottery a suckers bet? I’m not so sure. Let’s take for example tomorrow’s Mega Millions drawing. With its prize structure and odds, there is an expected value of .17. That means for every dollar spent in the long run, you should expect to win 17 cents. That’s actually what you call a good bet.
Roulette for example has a -.0526 expected value and Vegas Strip style blackjack has a -.05 ev.
So playing tomorrow’s Mega Millions is a much better bet than playing blackjack or roulette. But those aren’t the things you’ll hear people talking about.
Dawg Fan - go back to school!
March 19th, 2012
2:30 pm
Your writing is atrocious! “THE LOTTORY IS GOOD 4 THE SCOOLS SO DONT BE TLAKING BAD ABOUT IT HAVE U SEEN SUM OF THEES DUM KIDS THEES DAZE?” really?
Dumb parents make dumb kids which make even dumber kids. Even if YOU won the lottery, you’d still be dumb, just a rich dummy and a dumb sucker!
R Smith
March 19th, 2012
2:50 pm
It was a few years ago I read an article that the lottery commision hard huge bonuses twice a year. The one who picks up trash got smoething like $20,000 in bonuses at that time. Why are those bonuses given when we thought the money paid for education.
Just a thought.
plow
March 19th, 2012
2:56 pm
Georgia is a piece of work.
George Mathis
March 19th, 2012
3:03 pm
Good call on the $50 billion. I have corrected the article. $50 billion is the total spent by all states, not just Georgia.
Lt Col Razorback
March 19th, 2012
3:09 pm
Nonsuckers have ZERO chances to win.
Bob Decker
March 19th, 2012
3:19 pm
Yep, the dumber the state the higher the sales, the reason why Alabama is not on this list is because they have no lottery! lol. Must morons that play the pick 3 are unaware that the odds on hitting a number straight are 1000-1, and the payoff is only 500-1, so if 1,000 people in Georgia played 1,000 different numbers at 1 buck a piece, the state wins 500 bucks. Can a person be more stupid then that????
Alek
March 19th, 2012
3:20 pm
LOL – Is there really a need to be so snarky and condescending? If I were poor and wanted to have a little fun dreaming about what it would be like to be unbelievable rich, I think $1 would not be an outrageous cost for a day or 2 of the fun of imagining it. A 90 minute movie also provides an opportunity for some fantasy and imagination, for a LOT more money than a $1 – but I don’t see people jumping up and down saying the poor are being taken advantage of by $11 movie ticket prices!
TSHHTF
March 19th, 2012
3:22 pm
This guy…!
Bob Decker
March 19th, 2012
3:26 pm
I watched some woman in Atlanta spend 15 bucks on junk food with food stamps, then go to the next line and spend 30 bucks on dumbass lottery tickets, all scratch off stuff. She won a free ticket! Then scratched that one (loser), then left stuffing her fat face with potato chips.
Diddy
March 19th, 2012
3:33 pm
I’m an educated upper middle class black male and play the lotto in two ways:
First, I’m in a pool with 19 other co workers. We play the powerball and megamillions every week. There are 12 whites, 8 blacks in the group.
Second, I occasional pick up a scratch off. Not very often though.
I honestly think something is not right with GA’s lottery games. There are not enough winners. I’m originally from Ohio and it seems like the chances of winning scratch off’s is much greater. I can’t even win something mundane like a free ticket here. And yet, like other’s have said, the HOPE scholorshaip is in trouble? Doesn’t add up.
Diddy
March 19th, 2012
3:36 pm
Bob Decker, you mean you stood there and watched the women buy and scratch off all 30 lotto tickets? Then stood there and watched her buy and scratch off the last losing one? Really? You must have no life at all… Or you’re lying.
JustTheAnswer
March 19th, 2012
3:43 pm
OK, SO.. I wonder if all that don’t win on the lottery, claim their loss’ to the IRS?
Why can’t GA taxpayers get some type of Tax Break, come tax time?
Michael
March 19th, 2012
3:53 pm
No surprise; we did elect Nathan Deal, the most tattered and battered candidate I have ever seen. Check our SAT scores, the Overweight Index and the latest AJC story on most corruptible politicians. When anyone asks me about Georgia all I can really say is ‘the weather sure is nice.’
Horrible
March 19th, 2012
4:01 pm
@Bob Decker
It’s kinda creepy that you watched a stranger in public long enough to ascertain that much information.
neal kelley
March 19th, 2012
4:10 pm
we might be suckers for the lottery.. but at least our kids can go to college for free ( regardless of income ) hope scholarship!.
Gordon Schiltkraut
March 19th, 2012
4:12 pm
State lotteries make it possible for illegals to also pay something into the state treasuries, just like real taxpayers. Think of it as a way of taxing those who don’t pay traditional income taxes.
Nonilb
March 19th, 2012
4:28 pm
Yes-Working Class
dre
March 19th, 2012
4:30 pm
Dawg Fan – go back to school!
March 19th, 2012
2:30 pm
Your writing is atrocious! “THE LOTTORY IS GOOD 4 THE SCOOLS SO DONT BE TLAKING BAD ABOUT IT HAVE U SEEN SUM OF THEES DUM KIDS THEES DAZE?” really?
Dumb parents make dumb kids which make even dumber kids. Even if YOU won the lottery, you’d still be dumb, just a rich dummy and a dumb sucker!
Yup, I knew someone would take the bait….heh heh
Has to be said
March 19th, 2012
4:36 pm
The money actually makes a full circle when you think about it:
1. The wealthier people get taxed.
2. Obama and company redistribute to the poorer/less intelligent folks.
3. These folks play the lottery and lose.
4. The money they spend goes to fund the educations of … the kids of the wealthier people.
Spreading The Disease
March 19th, 2012
4:37 pm
I is also on wellfare,wicks checks toos, makes a couple porn flicks a month and plays the lottery too. life is great for me.
South GA Taxpayer
March 19th, 2012
5:00 pm
The Lottery EXPLOITS & ENSLAVES those who can LEAST afford to play, just like ALL forms of Gambling.
Every time I buy gas I have to stand in a LONG line behind dirty, barefoot folks, either with a small child or baby who looks dirty and neglected. The money for HOPE does NOT go to those who are the MOST Needy, but to students from more affluent families.
The COST on the BACKEND for Dependent families & children is Far Greater than any benefits.
There is a COST for everything and unfortunately the ignorant and under educated don’t recognize how many POOR folks have to pay IN to the Lottery for anyone to win.
teachAManToFish
March 19th, 2012
5:24 pm
I would like to thank personally all of those who contributed to my kids college education. Thank You.
Honestly, I play when it gets big. I think of it as entertainment. Not a retirement plan.
johnnywad
March 19th, 2012
5:39 pm
I’d just like to get a boner!
marcus
March 19th, 2012
5:39 pm
so what? who cares? its better to spend a couple of bucks on a dream than a drink. if you ever read the papers, you’d see that the winners in the state of georgia crosses demographic lines, so that means that everybody plays. the bigger question is the actual revenue that the state takes in and the payouts. at one point the lottery commission said that the beneficiaries were those student from gwinnett county who were taking advantage of the educational assistance, so somebody’s child is benefiting.
I'm Happy
March 19th, 2012
5:43 pm
Yes a buy a few tickets, but I make a very comfortable living. Both of my kids were able to attend GT on HOPE money, for the full 4 yrs, and I am grateful for that. So I buy a few tickets each big pot to pay it forward to the next person’s kids. Do I think I will win? NO, but if I do you can bet I will be very generous with the winnings, anonymously of course.
Confused in Georgia
March 19th, 2012
5:56 pm
Ok, I’m confused…. Why did the story not report how many tickets are purchased on the GA/Al line and the GA/FL line (Lack of Mega Millions)
Georgians are ‘suckers’ for the lottery | Times of News
March 19th, 2012
6:00 pm
[...] have gotten attention in Georgia, where a Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote a blog post about a Sucker Index, observant BloombergBusinessweek found that lottery players in a state are “doing a many repairs [...]
beanster
March 19th, 2012
6:02 pm
I would like to see a breakdown of the total revenue generated by individual game. When Georgians voted to allow the lottery in this state, wasn’t it just the Georgia “Lotto”, a game of pure chance where you paid $1 for a chance to win the jackpot? I have no problem with that. But then came Cash 3, where you could play for $0.50. (I think it’s obvious who was targeted and why). Then came Cash 4, then 5, Fantasy 5, then scratch off tickets for $1, then $2, then $5, then $10, and now $20!!! Seriously, $20 to play one game that isn’t even a true game of chance? (By that I mean the GA Lottery controls where the winning tickets are and how many will be produced). I have been to Vegas a few times in my life and will occasionally play a slot machine but never the $20 machines. Yet we give people in this state the opportunity to waste $20 in 15 seconds at nearly every convenience, grocery, or liquor store? Then to top it off, we consistently award enormous bonuses to the directors of the Lottery for performance? Seriously? How hard can that job be?
And it took until 2011, 18 years after the inception of the lottery in this state, to finally allow Georgians to buy a beer on Sunday. Hmmm….
Confused in Georgia
March 19th, 2012
6:04 pm
Another question that comes to mind…. What % if any is due to our travel industry / convention center trade / and “The World’s Busiest Airport.”
beanster
March 19th, 2012
6:14 pm
Good question, Confused. I love how there is a huge kiosk in the baggage claim area. Georgians should be so proud.
Statistics
March 19th, 2012
6:22 pm
How do they track tickets bought in each state by residents of other states? Do they factor into their calculations for each state the percentage of winners whose residences are different states than the places they purchased their tickets. I have friends out of state who often want me to purchase tickets for them whenever the jackpots are high. I also note that the winning tickets of big jackpots will often have been sold at retail outlets near the interstate highways, or near the state border. That happens, of course, in every state, but probably more in a place like Georgia, where you have so many tourists coming to and from Florida, and still some neighboring state that doesn’t have its own lottery, or don’t have mega millions, or powerball.
mehta
March 19th, 2012
6:35 pm
using ebt cards for smokes, beer and lottery tickets—I see it all the time. The clerk just rings up other stuff that qualifies—it’s a big con.
Im A Sucker
March 19th, 2012
6:51 pm
I just bought a $1 ticket and scratched off $25 which means I netted $24. Hey, at least I can buy some gas. Last evening I bought a $1 ticket and scratched off $16. I spent a total of $2 in two days and netted $39. Hell no, I only play every now and then. Mama didn’t raise no fool!
DawgNole
March 19th, 2012
7:19 pm
DISCIPLINE!
I spend $2 a week every week. No more, no less–and only on the “lifestyle changers” (mega, powerball).
Very seldom do I win anything at all. No problem; it’s fantasy money, not an investment.
Charles Lanclos
March 19th, 2012
7:55 pm
where are the state rankings list from largest to smallest amounts per person itemized,
BULLDOG62568
March 19th, 2012
8:48 pm
I work for my parents who own a mom and pop convience store. Of course we sell lottery and people do win. Two years ago we sold a 500 thousand winner. We sell a lot of winners. Yeah it is a game of chance but I guarentee that that 500 thousand helped that family. We have customers that don’t play daily but buy a 1 or 2 dollar ticket and win 500 dollars. So people do win. My problem with the lottery is that Gov. Deal took away the commision away from the stores for cashing in winning tickets. claiming that the lottery isn’t making enough money. If the lottery isn’t making enough, then why didn’t the executives at the lottery commission take a pay cut or not recieve their bonuses. Instead they took money from small stores(not a chain) which already are struggling because of the economy. We still recieve a small percentage for selling tickets,VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE. I think what Gov. Deal and the lottery commision did to small businesses was a joke. Not only did they take the commission from cashing tickets, the state of Georgia requires that if you sell lottery, you must have two employees working. Our lottery does bring in customers, and also paid for the extra employee, but now it doesn’t They claimed that taking away the commision would help sales. That doesn’t make sense. People are going to spend what they want to. So all it has done is hurt mom and pop stores llike my parents. What I believe should happen is that all stores should not sell tickets until we recieve our bonus. What Gov. Deal has done to these small stores is wrong and he can kiss my ass.
chris
March 19th, 2012
8:48 pm
As a Ga,girl I find this sad, So many of you think this is funny but it tell the rest of the world how dumb some of us are here in the great state of Ga is. I myself donot play those foolish games,Money is hard to comeby these day. I will not loose any money on some foolish like that.So all you loser’s keep putting your money oon something that will never payoff for you.SUCKER!:)
I'm pretty sure it's my business, not yours
March 19th, 2012
8:51 pm
First, the lottery generated plenty of money for Hope when the proceeds were used ONLY for
college fees, tuition, etc… It started running out of money when pre-K, computers for every high school, etc..were paid for out of lottery funds. As with all good ideas, government (in this case state of Ga government) figured out votes could be bought with dollars. Consequently, the Hope is now running out of money, and the politicians don’t have the spine to cut back to it’s original purpose. Therefore, it will probably eventually fold.
That said, if I want to buy a ticket, it’s no one’s business.
talemated
March 19th, 2012
9:06 pm
i played lottery for years. my savings are almost gone & my ten year auto nedds an air conditioner, it’s hot outside, & i’m broke. i know, you’re saying i’m a foll. guess what?
you’re right. the lottery will ruin you if you cannot control yourself. i’m contributing to be a poor idiot.
talemated
March 19th, 2012
9:06 pm
Enter your comments here
talemated
March 19th, 2012
9:12 pm
i’m contributing to lottery so i can be free from having a decent life. i am in the hole so much, i’ve decided i am a fool. don’t be sorry for a nut like me, try to help someone to understand just how the lottery works. people like me contribute to making the rich more rich, & the poor more poor. this is s fact.
Abe
March 19th, 2012
10:43 pm
BULLDOG62568,
You are incorrect on a couple of things.
1. The changes to the cashing bonuses for retailers was eliminated by the Governor and the legislator. The GLC had nothing to do with it. In fact, they fought for keeping the 2% cashing bonus for retailers and opposed the other changes that came to be.
2. All GLC employees (including CEO and execs) were stripped of all bonuses and incentive pay.
3. It is not state law nor a GLC policy that you must have two employees working in order to sell lottery.
Please do more research before posting.
Terry
March 19th, 2012
10:52 pm
The lottery is how the poor people who don’t pay taxes, pay taxes.
drew
March 20th, 2012
5:58 am
This can’t be true. Although I personally don’t play the lottery, everyone I know who does play, tells me they’ve won more money than they’ve spent. I guess sometimes hope just make people stupid, eh?
georgiadawg70
March 20th, 2012
6:51 am
fools and money always part company.
monroe
March 20th, 2012
7:12 am
the lottery is a big con against African-Americans, who play the lottery most. The money goes to pay college expenses for rich white people while African-Americans are kept down by the system. I’m tired of this.
Hope and a prayer
March 20th, 2012
7:15 am
It’s ludicrous how uninformed some of these comments are…if you’ve got the time to spit banalities, perhaps a lottery ticket is your best hope
Rabbit
March 20th, 2012
8:32 am
The current legislative leadership is both corrupt and incompetent. HOPE will only work if they are ALL gone.
David C
March 20th, 2012
8:38 am
It does seem strange that Hope is losing money yet some much is being taken in. Also keep in mind that 50% of College Freshman lose hope after one year in College. So where is the money going. Also if you look at how much College Expense has gone up in Georgia you will notice it out paces the State around Georgia. Which basically means College are taking advantage of Hope as well with Rate increase…
Bill
March 20th, 2012
8:46 am
What have you got to loose other than that dollar, so go ahead and get you a ticket for tonite, because you never know………………………………….
Mark
March 20th, 2012
9:26 am
I’m not poor. I live a comfortable life. If the jackpot is over 100 million, i’ll buy a ticket. I know the odds are terrible, but hey, $1 of my money could turn into 100 Million. All these people talking about how lottery players are “suckers”. Maybe…but my chances of winning are better than the poeple that don’t play.
People need to stop insinuating that the lottery is a con against African-Americans. No one is forcing them to play. If i was poor, I would stop buying cigaretts, stop drinking alchohol, and stop playing the lottery. The poor are only making themself poorer.
Side note….Chances of winning mega is like 1 in 176 million. If jackpot gets over 265 million, theoretically you can borrow 176 million, buy every number, win the jackpot, write off losses against winnings, and make a bunch of money. This will only work if only one person wins and you can borrow 176 million. Good luck.
Mark
March 20th, 2012
9:28 am
oh yeah, me and my wife’s 4 year degrees were paid for by hope.
Juice
March 20th, 2012
10:42 am
I play lottery but I consider it entertainment rathe than gambling. It’s fun to fill some of the spare moments, especially while driving, with thoughts about what I would do with the money. Sure, I can fantasize without actually playing but that small chance gives more ‘flavor’ to the dreaming. A buck is cheap when you consider I may drive 6-7 hours a week.
Jack
March 20th, 2012
11:18 am
Gambling is a human weakness. As old as the oldest profession. And it’s here to stay.
observer
March 20th, 2012
11:22 am
WHY ISN’T THE FOLLOWING SCHEME IMPLEMENTED IN THE U.S. INSTEAD OF LOTTERIES? WITH PREMIUM BONDS YOUR NUMBERS ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED EVERY MONTH, AND WHEN YOU WANT TO CASH IN YOUR BONDS, YOU GET YOUR ORIGINAL INVESTMENT BACK. IS THIS TOO SIMPLE (AS IS THE IDEA OF A FLAT TAX) FOR THE AVERAGE POLITICIAN TO UNDERSTAND?
A Premium Bond is a lottery bond issued by the United Kingdom government’s National Savings and Investments scheme. The government promises to buy back the bond, on request, for its original price. They were introduced by Harold Macmillan in his 1956 budget.
The government pays interest on the bond (pegged at 1.5% in July 2010). But instead of the interest being paid into individual accounts, it is paid into a prize fund from which a monthly lottery distributes tax-free prizes, or premiums, to those bond-holders whose numbers are selected randomly. The machine that generates random numbers for the lottery is called ERNIE, for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment.[1] There are many different prizes ranging from £25 to the top prize of £1,000,000 (between 2005 and 2009, there were two £1m prizes each month and the minimum prize was £50, but prizes were reduced after the large 2009 drop in interest rates). Investors can purchase bonds at any time; bonds need to be held for a full calendar month after the month in which they are bought, e.g. purchase in January, eligible for March. Numbers are entered each month, with an equal chance of winning any prize, until the bond is cashed in.
The prize draw is conducted so that the winners of the jackpot can be notified on the first working day of the month, although the actual date of the draw varies for administrative reasons. The online prize finder[2] is updated by the third or fourth working day of the month.
From 1 January 2009 the odds of winning a prize for each bond number held was 36,000 to 1. In October 2009, the odds returned to 24,000 to 1 with the prize fund interest rate increase.[3] Around 23 million people own Premium Bonds,[citation needed] over one third of the UK population. Each person may own up to £30,000 in Premium Bonds. Bonds can now be purchased by the £1 after the first £100, with a value of £1 per bond and a minimum purchase of 100 bonds (or 50 bonds when paying by standing order). When they were first introduced in 1957 they were very popular — perhaps because the only other similar games of chance available to the general public were the football pools; the National Lottery did not exist until 1994. In Ireland, a similar investment scheme called Prize Bond also originated in early 1957.
Bill W
March 20th, 2012
12:11 pm
Yeah and both countries are FLAT BROKE. Good idea.
Sam H
March 21st, 2012
7:57 pm
Hey Spinoza,
Yeah…there is no mindlessness or corruptioin in the DNC or the Democrat party.
Dems are all just angelic do-gooders looking out for the little guy.
What a tool you truly are.
UGASlobberknocker
March 30th, 2012
12:45 pm
How can anyone expect to win this thing? It is ridicu….Wait!. Is that a grizzly bear and a Polar bear running at me ???? Gotta go
Ekim
March 30th, 2012
1:11 pm
I spend 0.0325% of my family’s annual income on Megamillions plays. Am I stupid, or just having a little fun?
AzCat
March 30th, 2012
1:25 pm
You’re having a little fun, Ekim. But the radical wings on both sides (left and right) have declared war on fun. Be forewarned!
Anderson
March 30th, 2012
2:44 pm
All I have to say is if spending (only) $1 for a chance to win $640 (+) million before taxes makes me a “sucker”,then call me a “sucker”.
Cammi317
March 30th, 2012
3:32 pm
I spent $1 today on a ticket. I am not stupid and would never waste my household income by spending $10, $20, $50 or more on lottery tickets and pipe dreams.
HeadLine
March 30th, 2012
4:23 pm
Just look at the single brain cell organisms that are buying the tickets is really all you need to know. What a bunch of idiots??? You wonder why our education system is in such horrible shape. Idiot adult’s raise and teach idiot kids. Surprise….
Mountain Man
March 30th, 2012
4:38 pm
I’ll drop $5 for some tickets today. Consider it a donation to the Hope Scholarship. It’ll be the first time I’ve bought lottery tickets in over 15 years. I don’t usually waste my hard-earned cash.
You people betting your futures on winning the jackpot? Stupid doesn’t even begin to describe you. If you were discontent before winning, you will be discontent after winning. If you are content with your life before winning the lottery, you will be content after winning it. Money doesn’t change a person’s personality. If you squandered money before, you will p@ss it away after winning. If you were frugal before, you will most likely enjoy you good fortune afterward.
daisywilliams046@gmail.com
April 2nd, 2012
6:37 pm
till. me how 2. hit the number. please.
ibushwacked2
April 28th, 2012
8:18 am
I was visiting in your state recently, i was amazed to see so many people standing in lines to buy lottery tickets. they looked very happy standing in those long lines. Its braining washing at it best.