Mega Millions and Powerball are high again. The cash fever begins once again. |
It's about time for Americans to gather up their dollars and head to their local lottery retailer. The Mega Millions is once again at record highs. The jackpot is nearly $1 billion. You will have millions of Americans spent up to $1,000 for a chance at being rich.
I offer an honest opinion about issues facing our community, the government and the media. These honest opinions are not taken as fact. It's just an opinion. If you're interested in taking my advice, go for it.
Okay, the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots are reaching record amounts. In 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands both games are played. Soon another state will join the lottery. If approved, Mississippi will enter the lottery. If Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signs off the legislation passed by state lawmakers, the state of Mississippi will join the Mega Millions and Powerball.
The Powerball is played on Wednesday and Saturdays before 11pm (EST).
Mega Millions is played on Tuesday and Fridays before 11pm (EST).
For $2 or $3 with the Power Play or the Multiplier, a player could win a huge fortune. Mind you that a huge fortune comes with a huge price. The thrill of being a lottery winner can be exciting. It can be fun and life changing. But if you don't take the steps to be a smart winner, you may end up broke quickly.
Whether you use my advice or not, I want to say thank you again for taking an opportunity to read it.
So you purchased your Powerball or Mega Millions ticket. You payed $2 or more for that chance to win. Cool, ain't it.
Your chances of winning this jackpot is 1:274 million.
If I would win a record jackpot like this.............I don't know!
If you're playing Mega Millions and Powerball, how much would you spend? Matter of fact, do you play the lottery?
Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays. The last bet before the drawing is at 10:44pm. All drawings for Mega Millions are held at 10:59pm. The taping or live broadcast are done in Atlanta at the WSB-TV studios under the supervision of the Georgia State Lottery commission.
The minimum Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots starts at $40 million.
The Powerball tickets use the 5/69 and 1/26 matrix. Each ticket cost $2.00. You must pick 5 numbers from 1 to 69 white balls and the Powerball from 1 to 26. These numbers can be called out, played again, written down, digitally apped or automatically picked. Make sure you play your numbers correctly.
The Mega Millions tickets use 5/70 and 1/25 matrix. Each ticket cost $2.00. You must pick 5 numbers from 1 to 70 white balls and the Mega Ball from 1 to 25. These numbers can be called out, played again, written down, digitally apped or automatically picked. Make sure you play your numbers correctly.
Anyway, the first thing you want to do whenever you purchase a lottery ticket, is have money on hand. The operator is required to take money before issuing a ticket. Make sure you have your numbers placed on either a betting card, your lottery app or a previous ticket. Most operators will help you plug numbers in through the terminal or place an automatic bet for you. However in the case of long lines or possible errors, it would be best to be prepared for the transaction. Some states do offer debit and credit transactions. Make sure you get your information from your local lottery commission.
The most recent Mega Millions grid matrix. |
Second, make sure you write your name, phone number or email address on your ticket. If the ticket is lost, stolen, or damaged, you may find it harder to win over lottery officials. If you don't write your name on the lottery ticket and you lost it or a crooked lottery operator gets his hands on it: It's your word against the winner.
Mind you that lottery operators have a license number. The place that sold the winning ticket does keep records of the transaction. The tickets are time stamped, verified and authorized. If you lose the ticket, make sure you file a police report. Do not get on television saying that you lost the ticket. It could cause a panic and if you're lying about it, you could face charges of misleading or filing a false police report.
If you are the winner of a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot and the amount is a lot, I would recommend you take a picture of the winning ticket. It will also be insurance if you happen to lose the ticket.
If you have a picture of the ticket and you have a police report, it's likely you have a case against the person who stole your ticket.
In most states, the required age to play the lottery is 18 years or older. Do not let anyone under the playing age purchase a ticket or lottery game. The operator could lose their license or you will forfeit your prize if the regional lottery operator determined that an underage player was the winner.
If you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot, hire a qualified lottery and huge sum lawyer. Make sure that a large sum lawyer is certified in dealing with lottery wins. Don't entrust your winning with a law firm that doesn't know how to deal with lottery winnings, investment or day trade.
Create a will and trust fund. You should have a trustee come forward on your behalf.
Make an investment in your money. Put your money in a trust fund if you have children or family members you can trust if you should die. Make a will or entrust. Make sure you know that you have a family member or a trusted friend who will take care of the winnings once you pass away.
If you're bragging about you're winnings, that's fine. But you best believe that you should cancel out your social media immediately. There's too many opportunists willing to swarm your social media with requests.
I don't want to pay the state police to secure my home or my property. I don't want my son, his mother, my family or closest friends getting harassed and death threats.
If you do decide to become public and share your success with the junk food media, expect death threats, harassing calls, scammers and untrustworthy people to meddle. Family members, ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, ex-spouses, fraudulent charity organizations and robbers are expected to exploit your riches.
Keep a calm head and do not treat winning the lottery like its a "normal" thing.
Keep a calm head and do not treat winning the lottery like its a "normal" thing.
If you purchase Powerball and Mega Millions from another state and you won, understand that it not a winner in your home state.
What does that mean?
Say you purchased a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket in Florida and you decided to head home to Massachusetts. You go to a local retailer and ask if you can "cash in" that $100 ticket. The operator says "I can't do that. It's not from our state."
You get upset and ask why you can't cash in a simple winning ticket from another state.
That is the usual comments whenever you try to cash in a ticket from another state is "Why can't you accept this 'winning' ticket? You guys play Mega Millions and Powerball too?"
Well the answer is simple. You have an out of state ticket that's a winner. That ticket must be returned to the state you've purchased it from.
You have to return back to the state you've purchased that ticket. Do not go into lottery retailer with a ticket from another state. Each state has a set of rules, regulations, state taxes and locality rules.
The most current Powerball play grid matrix. |
For tickets that may be over a certain amount (i.e. amounts over $2,500), you might have to go to the lottery's regional offices. The offices are located in metropolitan areas.
If you can't make it to a lottery retailer, that's alright. You can get an app for that. Some state lottery agencies offer apps on your iPhone, Android and smart devices. You can get apps from the state lottery commission or the official Powerball and Mega Million apps. You can make purchases through your credit or debit card.
You can avoid the lines, by going to iTunes or the Google Play store to get a free app for your state's lottery.
Never put your trust in a cashier who doesn't have experience in handling jackpots or validations of high value tickets.
Please, don't quit a job until you are sure you've won the lottery. Don't rush to judgment about being a lottery winner. Sometimes a person who wins the lottery never expects it to happen. Don't sit around the house hoping the day will come you'll be the millionaire. Don't burn bridges with your job. You may end up back at your job if you decide to go back into the workforce.
Yeah, it's a huge change in your life. And you're going to have major things to accomplish, do it wisely. Go ahead and have fun with your earnings. Don't blow it on things that obviously will attract negative attention.
Yeah, the lottery is a gateway to putting in other venues. Some may blow their money at casinos, horsetracks, fantasy football and online poker. Some may blow it on sex, food, drugs and alcohol.
Granted that you are given the right to do whatever you want with your earnings, but seriously are going to get a gold statue of your image?
Are willing to pay for five chefs, a butler, housekeeper, nanny, and chauffeur?
You going to buy property in Florida! Wow! You are going to pay for the land tax?
How about those nice fancy cars and that private jet? You got insurance for those fancy rides.
With the Jobs and Tax Cuts Act in effect, will your taxes be effected by this?
Obviously, you might get a huge tax cut if you won the lottery.
Do whatever you want with your money, but be careful with it.!
You know that money will change you. You might become stingy with the winnings. Cause money comes and goes. You should be humble.
Cause money will change a person when they're rich. Don't expect your life to be "normal" when you win the lottery. Cause it's not going to be normal. It could a great experience or the worst thing.
The Have-Nots Will Always Try To Make You Feel Guilty About Winning. Ignore Them And Be Happy About Your Success.
Are you going to vote?
Before I go, I got a lottery story for you. A Missouri woman was caught on camera dancing in a convenience store. She was caught on camera lunging over the counter and grabbing rolls of scratch-off lottery tickets.
The surveillance video shows the woman dancing her way through a local QuikTrip in St. Louis County, as her male accomplice distracted the clerk. While the accomplice and clerk were in the back of the store, the woman in the front, dancing and periodically grabbing scratch-offs from behind the counter.
The St. Louis County police were not laughing at this. They decided to make this woman famous.
They added Cardi B's Bodak Yellow single.
Whenever you steal a lottery ticket, the lottery retailer will deactivate the ticket. So if the woman was trying to go into another store with a winning ticket, she will find it deactivated. She will be spotted on camera and then the police will catch her. So it was a worthless theft for tickets you are already disqualified from purchasing. By the way, if anyone else tries to cash in a deactivated ticket (involved in a theft), they will be caught as well.
"Money moves? We think not," said the St. Louis County Police. "We're trying to ID this female wanted for stealing scratchers tickets from the QuikTrip. While the video of her face isn't completely clear, we're hoping someone recognizes those dope dance moves."
The dancing lottery thief. This woman was caught on camera jumping behind the counter stealing scratch-off tickets. |
St. Louis County Police said Dixon tried to come back and do the same thing early Wednesday morning, which was when QuikTrip employees recognized her and called police.
Dixon admitted to the crime and returned the merchandise. She has been charged with petty larceny.
The tickets Dixon stole were worthless. According to the Missouri Lottery, once a ticket is deemed stolen, it can no longer be cashed in.
I happened to find her social media. She left St. Louis after the story went viral.
QuikTrip will immediately ban the customer from its property. The suspect will be charged and face up to a year in the iron college. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Also you can visit the official Mega Millions and Powerball YouTube pages for the latest results.