Finally The Lottery Is A Sound Investment Strategy

With the Mega Millions Lottery reaching over $540 million, the $176 million required to pick all the possible combinations seems like a good investment.

Even after taxes, that is at least a 60% return on your money.

Of course, you should have already started, because:

• It would take you well over three years (working 8 hours a day 7 days a week) to fill out all the cards.
• It would take the lottery machine and attendants (working 24×7) a whole month to print out all the tickets.
• And all those people standing behind you in line would get really annoyed.

But these are minor technicalities.

Good luck to everyone playing the lottery tonight – and let me know if you win.

I’d love to be your investment advisor.

A football weekend – part 2

A loss, A loss, A win, and A pretty good…

So, this weekend was:

The first game(s) of the youth football season.

The big drawing for Mega Millions.

The Redskins first pre-season home game.

And the draft for my other league. (The one I’m not commish for)

We ended up loosing our first game. But this is not so bad. We played the division champions from last year, and they are still really good. The final score was 12 – 0.
Even though we lost and did not score – the other team really had bigger and faster kids than us; I think the team did really well. They learned valuable lessons about staying home on defense, and following through with your blocks and tackles.

Just in case anybody from my team is reading this blog, “everyone needs to go back to work Monday Morning”. Sorry, the bad news is that the lottery commission just does not yet realize that we are supposed to have the winning ticket. The good news is that nobody else convinced them either…

Last night was the Redskins first pre-season home game and unlike last week; they decided to show up and play some football. Everyone played well, except Jason Campbell, and I was especially impressed with a lot of the second team guys. Chase Daniel, who the Redskins picked up as an undrafted free agent showed a lot of poise and command of the game and orchestrated some really good scoring drives. Marcus Mason continued his impressive pre-season performances from last year and showed everyone he is for real. Marko Mitchell continued to show his catching ability by a nice grab up high in the air for a TD. Malcolm Kelly beat the Steelers secondary early, the offensive line gave Campbell plenty of time, but Campbell just could not connect with his receivers last night. Maybe Zorn should put Daniel in first next week to send a message….

And last but certainly not least; Saturday was the draft for my other Fantasy Football league.

So, how did I do in this one? For a totally blind automatic draft…
Not so bad I think… (I had second pick)

The Pariahs

QB

Aaron Rodgers
Shaun Hill
Jason Campbell

RB

Adrian Peterson
Ronnie Brown
Mewelde Moore
Darren Sproles

WR

Lee Evans
Vincent Jackson
Justin Gage
Ted Ginn
Brian Robiskie

TE

Chris Cooley

K

John Carney
David Akers

Def/ST

Baltimore Ravens

Money Jars…And Curses…

I have been at the same company for almost eight years now.
Over that period of time I have seen lots of “money jars”.

There is the ever popular swear jar.

And the happy hour fund.

A variation on the swear jar…

My team and I; We have “The Retirement Fund”.

This is the jar that we all throw spare change into on a fairly regular basis.

It is not for any of the reasons listed above. It is used for whenever the lottery gets really big. Such as now….

Over $200 Million.

What is funny is, sometimes the jar gets full before a really huge jackpot. And folks think that turning in the jar for the basic $12 million starting jackpot is , somehow , not really worth it.

Huh? Come on guys. OK, so $12 million divided by 8 is 1.5 million for each of us!

Maybe, not quite enough to retire comfortably on… Maybe…

After all its only like someone coming up to you on the street and handing you a check for $900,000 tax free.

As Jeff Foxworthy would say… “that sure would put a dent in the ol’ Pinto payments”.

So, now it is my turn to collect the jar and turn in the coins for lottery tickets.
Instead of going to the local 7-11 counter and having the poor lady behind the register count out all those coins, I go to the Coinstar machine and get the cash. Sure it costs 8% fee, but I throw in an extra dollar to help cover that cost.

After this fun and amazing stop at coinstar, I make my way over to the previously mentioned 7-11 and wait in line to get my tickets.

After all this just happens to be lunch hour and there are lots of folks buying 7-11 hot dogs, Nachos, beer, and soda…

Hmmm, this get me to thinking two things…

A) Maybe it is not the Health Care System we should be looking to reform…
B) I notice the other VA lottery game called Win for Life!

Now, I know this game from the commercials. If you win the jackpot, you get $1000 a week for Life!

Pretty cool. So while I was waiting for the guys to finish buying out the 7-11 supply of dogs, chips, and beverages for their crews, I got into reading the particulars of the Win for Life Lottery.

The fine print says the grand prize is $1,000 a week for 10 years.
What?

Do they know something I don’t?

Is this a cruel curse? Like Congratulations! you win the jackpot! And don’t worry about the only 10 years to live stuff…

I know, maybe the game started in 2002 and it is a funny ploy on the 2012 end of the world scenario…

Nope, it started in 2006 (I looked it up later on the internet)

Then I noticed that, like other big jackpot drawings, they have a one time cash out option. You can get $1,000 a week for 10 years or you can get a one time $520,000 payment.

Normally I would choose the one time pay out option because the same amount of money now is worth a lot more (hopefully) than the same amount 10 or 20 years from now.

But with the “for life” option thrown into this seemingly innocent lottery game, I find the whole thing rather uncomfortable…

So this means that one can earn an extra $1,000 a week and you get 10 years to live.
or
$520,000 to throw one hell of a party before tomorrow.

I think I will stick with the standard Mega Millions Drawing…

10 tickets please…

Thank you.

He’s a Maniac, Maniac!

Yes, start the disco music!

So much for the NFL anti-gambling policy. The NFL was anti-gambling because it could not profit from, or regulate it; until now…

Now, they can get a government endorsed promotion which has the “good for community” spin and of course fan involvement. Virginia historically says that approximately 95% of profits go towards the Public Schools. Though the skeptic in me doubts that applies to an NFL/Redskins endorsed promotion…

All the while getting more revenue from the fans, even the non-ticket holder fans!

How?

Well of course there is always the lure of easy money…

With THREE top prize tickets out there each worth a cool 1 Million Dollars!!!

This hook gets all the normal sports gamblers out of the closet and purchasing tickets.

But the real hook is for all those “I wish I could score some easy season tickets” fans out there!!!

Since you only stand about a 1 in 3 chance of winning anything at all, you can take any loosing ticket and enter it in a “Second Chance” drawing!

And what can you get with the Second Chance Drawing?

What I find most interesting about this second chance prize list is the “value” attached to it. I think these “values” warrant some discussion and perhaps thought, especially regarding any “tax” implications…

Premium Club Season Tickets for 20 Years
Starting with the 2010 NFL pre-season and expiring at the conclusion of the 2029 NFL regular season. Two club seats (in the “Club A” seating area of the Club Level at FedExField) and one orange parking pass to all pre-season and regular-season home games at FedExField. The total prize value (including the taxes contributed on the winner’s behalf) is $273,900.00.

Luxury Suite for One Game
One catered luxury suite for up to 20 people, six purple parking passes and $1,000 in spending money. Good for one predetermined home game at FedExField during the 2009 season. The total prize value (including the taxes contributed on the winner’s behalf) is $29,000.00.

VIP Travel with the Team to Dallas
Round-trip travel on the team plane, local travel on the team bus, hotel accommodations in the team hotel and two tickets to the game. Each winner can bring one guest (at least 18 years old) and will receive $1,000 in spending money. The total prize value (including the taxes contributed on the winner’s behalf) is $15,200.00.

Premium Club Season Tickets
Two club seats (in the “Club A” seating area of the Club Level at FedExField) and one orange parking pass to all 2010 pre-season and regular-season home games at FedExField. The total prize value (including the taxes contributed on the winner’s behalf) is $13,700.00.

Redskins Player for a Day
Authentic one-day Redskins player contract includes: personalized Redskins jersey and player sideline hat, on-stage photo opportunity at Redskins Park behind Super Bowl trophies, Redskins “Chalk Talk” presented to the group by a Redskins coach or member of the Player Personnel Department, VIP tour of Redskins Park and $500 signing bonus. Each winner may bring one guest (18+). The prize value is $3,000.00.

VIP Practice Experience
VIP Practice Invite includes: opportunity to view practice from the sidelines (just as the coaches do), player sideline hat, white-panel Redskins football, opportunity to obtain autographs from players and coaches after practice, Redskins “Chalk Talk” presented to the group by a Redskins coach or member of the Player Personnel Department, VIP tour of Redskins Park and $500 signing bonus. Each winner may bring one guest (18+). The prize value is $3,000.00.

Premium Club Individual Game Tickets
Two club seats (in the “Club A” seating area of the Club Level at FedExField), one orange parking pass, and $500 in spending money. The total prize value is $1,500.00.

Game Worn Jerseys
One authentic game-used jersey signed by a Redskins player. The prize value is $1,000.00.

Authentic Redskins Helmet Signed by Player of Winner’s Choice
One authentic Redskins helmet signed by a current Redskins player, current coach, or available Hall of Fame alumni player or coach of the winner’s choice. The prize value is $500.00.

$500 Redskins Shopping Spree
One $500 Redskins Retail Store gift card. Expiration of the gift card will be no sooner than two years from mail date.

BUT IT GETS EVEN BETTER !!!!

There is not just one second chance drawing…but 9 total drawings!!!

First Drawing – Friday, August 28, 2009
Second Drawing – Friday, September 11, 2009
Third Drawing – Friday, September 25, 2009
Fourth Drawing – Friday, October 9, 2009
Fifth Drawing – Friday, October 23, 2009
Sixth Drawing – Friday, November 6, 2009
Seventh Drawing – Friday, November 20, 2009
Eighth Drawing – Friday, December 4, 2009
Ninth Drawing – Friday, March 26, 2010

And only loosing tickets received between each drawing are eligible for the next drawing.

For example… the first drawing is August 28th. To participate in this drawing,
entries must be received from Monday, August 3 to Thursday, August 27, 2009 11:59 pm.

To participate in the second drawing, you need to send in more loosing tickets between August 28th and September 10.

And so on and so on….

What a great hook!!!

What a great way to syphon even more money from your loyal fan base!!!

I can’t wait to see what other “promotions” gambling schemes the NFL owners will come up with next!

Here is a copy of the official announcement.

Redskin Mania

Virginia Lottery And Washington Redskins Reveal “Redskins Mania” Scratch Ticket

It seems the economic down turn has even made our Dear Mr. Snyder to resort to a “poor mans tax”.

Redskins Mania tickets are $20.
– Cheaper than a ticket to the game!

The odds of winning $1 million are 1 in 1,305,600
– Thanks, I only need to buy $26.11 million worth.

Profits from Redskins Mania will go to K-12 public schools in the Commonwealth.
– And how much does Mr. Snyder get?

The chances of winning a prize through the Redskins Mania ticket are in no way related to the team’s performance on the field.
– Hmmm, seems both chances have a better than even probability of bombing…

Players can enter non-winning tickets at valottery.com for the chance to win these amazing Redskins VIP experiences:
* Win pairs of Redskins Premium Club tickets for 20 years at FedEx Field
* VIP away game Travel with the team to Dallas, on the team plane and team bus, as the Redskins take on the Cowboys in Dallas, TX on November 22, 2009
* Win pairs of Redskins Premium Club tickets for the 2010 season at FedEx Field
* Watch a Redskins home game in a FedExField luxury suite with 19 of your favorite friends
* Watch and attend a private Redskins team practice from the sidelines, just as the coaches do
* Once-in-a-lifetime chance to join the Redskins team roster as a “Player for a Day”
* Other prizes include: Redskins Premium Club seats for 2009 games, autographed helmets by the player of your choice, $500 Redskins gift cards and official game-worn jerseys

Almost makes me want to not win the Redskin Mania Lottery scratch game.

Oh, and on a much more interesting “chance to win” topic. Here is my first test auto-draft attempt of the season.

What I find amazing is that I was #10 in draft order.

As best as I can tell…

Drew Brees 1st
LT or Payton 2nd
Adrian 3rd…

As always, Please play responsibly….

It’s Automatic

I like automatic, except when it comes to cars and airplanes (or basically anything one has to steer and control acceleration and braking)

But when it comes to certain things like, paying bills, depositing checks, saving or investing; I like automatic.

Most of my bills are automatically paid.
My salary is automatically deposited into my bank account.
My monthly deposit for my 401 is automatically deducted from my pay.
I automatically save a certain amount into a savings account and investment broker every month.

So, when the VA lottery site was upgraded last year and ‘totally’ broke the online automatic entry feature I was really upset. At least when my yearly subscription ran out.

This meant that I could no longer enter my numbers into the lottery once a year. I liked being able to “set it and forget it.” Of course, one can play multiple drawings at any lottery retailer, but you still have to fill out the card (resisting the temptation to add just one more set of numbers or another auto-pick), go to the retailer, wait in line, pay for the ticket(s), get back into your car and go back home. Well, you get the idea.

Anyway, I’ve been waiting for months for them to get around to fixing this. I don’t know what the problem(s) were, I did not ask, but I am sure who ever did the upgrade is no longer working for the lottery organization and will not be getting a good recommendation.

So, finally this weekend when I was checking the numbers online I noticed they had a prominently displayed ad for this feature. So, I immediately signed up my 1 set of numbers for a years worth of drawings. Hooray!!! No more having to try and remember to play the numbers. No more worrying about spending too much on the lottery. ( yes there are many who say 1 dollar IS too much to spend on “the poor mans tax” and such a lousy rate of return). But hey, somebody has to win the jackpot once in a while and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be me. So, here’s my $1.00 – Well, $104.00 to be exact(twice weekly drawings for a year) and not a penny more.

I like automatic!