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MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT SOARS TO $636 MILLIONReply
My bad, per MUSL the actual jackpot will be paid after all, $648 annuity and $347.6 cash, the lotteries just aren't saying so. I honestly thought they would apply the excess to the next drawing, as that is what has been done in the past.
Dec 18, 2013, 2:00 pm - LottoMetro - Lottery News

$636 Million Mega Millions jackpot split by 2 ticketsReply
It's not even remotely close to a record. Even if you're willing to accept the anuity value as a legitimate jackpot measure, by changing the terms of the annuity they've made it a complete farce to try and compare this drawing to any previous drawing on a dollar to dollar basis. It's like thinking somebody who weighs 400 pounds isn't fat if we weigh them in kilos.
Dec 18, 2013, 12:49 pm - KY Floyd - Lottery News

Looking at that 586 million...I think I want the annunityReply
My only reason for prefering the cash option is that 30 years is a long time, a lot of things could change although the annuity option looks really good right now with the bump today I am still going to go with the cash option.
Dec 17, 2013, 8:01 pm - trinitron00 - Lottery Discussion Forum

MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT SOARS TO $636 MILLIONReply
Yeah, when MM changed the odds, they also made another sneaky change which was the extension of the annuity to 30 years. It weakens the cash value considerably relative to the advertised jackpot. I think many lotteries are moving to 30 year annuities though. Even in California, the SuperLotto Plus is now paid out in 30 years.
Dec 17, 2013, 1:41 pm - mrcraft - Lottery News

MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT SOARS TO $636 MILLIONReply
It's all about the hype. Simply advertising a cash jackpot of over $300 million isn't enough. They have to inflate it by nearly 100% with a fictitious annuity that virtually nobody takes, and they're desperately hoping for an excuse to call this drawing a new record when they'll be lucky if it's 3/4 of what they gave away just under 2 years ago.
Dec 17, 2013, 1:17 pm - KY Floyd - Lottery News

Looking at that 586 million...I think I want the annunityReply
Taking an annuity instead of the cash option does not insulate against stupidity. Many of those winners may just end up borrowing against the future payments anyway.
Dec 16, 2013, 9:03 pm - ryanm - Lottery Discussion Forum

Mega Millions odds 1:259 Million, almost half already used up..Reply
I wonder if the record CASH OPTION jackpot will be surpassed as well on Tuesday. Remember the annuity is larger at any given cash value now, since they now pay in graduated installments, whereas under the old record, it was paid in equal installments.
Dec 16, 2013, 8:52 pm - ryanm - Lottery Discussion Forum

$550 MILLION: Mega Millions holiday bonanza!Reply
Wait 8 days and you may hear that Santa was seen over northern Ohio. The advertised jackpot has to go over $656 million before MM officials will claim they've set a new record. Based on the curent cash/annuity ratio it needs to be over $878 million to set a real record. It will take some serious hysteria for that to happen by tomorrow night.
Dec 16, 2013, 3:37 pm - KY Floyd - Lottery News

$550 MILLION: Mega Millions holiday bonanza!Reply
Giving up a $800 million jackpot in order to take home $300 million is wishful thinking. The cash value of an $800 million annuity is roughly $429 million. Factor in just the portion of total Federal taxes that would be owed and your net payout would be $259 million. State taxes would make yet an even bigger dent on the overall take home amount.
Dec 14, 2013, 11:48 am - Jill34786 - Lottery News

Was that the official concession speech from Mega Millions?Reply
I'm curious what the slope for PB vs. Mega (new matrix) is. Do you think the net positive change is solely because of the switch to 30-year annuity value? That would show that they could have kept the old matrix, but simply moved to 30 years if so.
Dec 12, 2013, 3:16 pm - Toronto - Lottery Discussion Forum