Screw You New York Lottery!

So a new weekend tradition in our house is to play the Saturday night lotto, and then check our tickets as we read the paper and drink our morning coffee on Sunday. As we open up the paper we faux-excitedly proclaim that perhaps we won’t have to go to work the next day. We know the odds are ridiculous, but it’s fun and keeps us entertained. Well this week with Easter we forgot to check the winning numbers, so it wasn’t until last night that I had a chance to check the tickets, and wouldn’t you know it, I got three numbers! THREE NUMBERS! It’s a six number drawing, so I was certain that my three numbers would get me something, so I rushed to the computer to check the payout values. Turns out the jackpot was $33 Million and there was no winner. What do I get for my three numbers, you ask? One dollar. That’s right folks, one lousy dollar. For three numbers! The payout for four numbers? Twenty-Nine dollars. Could you imagine my disappointment if I got four numbers? Five numbers? $2,000. Seriously. If I got five numbers I probably would have called up my job and quit before I even checked the payout values. Isn’t that ridiculous? Don’t these jackpots just carry over to the next drawing if nobody wins? Why not spread the $33 Million throughout all the minor winners? Wouldn’t that be an awesome economic stimulus? Why let it build up to $700 Million just to have some 98 year old man win, who ends up dying the next day (ironic, don’t ya think?). Clearly I’m just being a sore loser. Or a sore semi-winner with a lousy dollar.