Winning

Yesterday, the Powerball lottery jackpot was $ .9 BILLION. That is A Lot of money, and you can't win if you don't play. So I played, and I didn't win. Nothin'. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. There was a cop checking his tickets when I checked mine, and he won five bucks. Good for him - that's two and a half more Powerball or MegaMillions tickets, or five Superlotto tickets. Or five bucks in his pocket. I was happy to verbally celebrate his win with him. We all already knew that nobody won the jackpot.

And that's okay, because now the "big" jackpot is up to $ 1.3 BILLION for the drawing on Wednesday. Did I go ahead and buy a ticket today, while I was getting tickets for the Superlotto and Fantasy Five? You betcha. Because you can't win if you don't play. I play Superlotto and Fantasy Five every week.

I don't gamble in Vegas; I don't bet on horses or sports or other things you can bet on. I don't bet on facts, even if I know that "my" answer is verifiably "right" and I'm just dealing with an idiot who seriously wants to pay me for the fact that I am right and he/she is so utterly and completely wrong. I'm not competitive, and I don't "gamble". I play the lottery, because it's cheap, and I sometimes win a little something, and it's fun to win a little something, and I know that I can't win a big something if I don't play. I don't spend money I can't afford to lose. I don't like to "spend". I'm on track to get out of my own personal debt by mid-next year. If I stay on track, Stephen's personal debt (other than his student loans) will be wiped out by then as well. This is a great feeling, and I love it.

But wouldn't I love to wipe everything out in one swell foop? You betcha. So I play the lottery.

Here's the deal, though. I don't intend to keep my winnings to myself. When I manage to win any jackpot of $1M or more, I intend to share. I'll be contacting family, and then friends, to say, "Hey. I won some money in a lottery, and it's too much for me to keep to myself. So if you want to share in my major award (wink), then you need to send me a nickel or a dime and a deposit slip for your bank account. I plan on collecting this major award as if the ticket had been purchased in a pool. Once I have enough nickels or dimes to equal the purchase price, then sometime thereafter, you can expect a sizeable deposit into your account, from the Lottery Board of the State of California (or whatever they like to call it). After that, you will be free to do what you will with it; you'll be obligated to whatever tax you'll have to pay, but I won't be telling you how to spend it. Would you like to share in my major award?"

And then, we'll all live happily ever after. Won't that be great?

Do you gamble? In what ways, and what is your limit? What do you do with your winnings? Do you ever see yourself following this kind of plan, or is the money "mine, mine, MINE"? (No judgment from me; I'm curious how others see my plan).