"Money for Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Tonight I bought two lottery tickets.

"Any lottery games tonight," I asked the clerk.

"Well, there's the "win money for life game," she said.

Another clerk corected her by saying,"you get $50,000 a year for twenty years."

Because I'm now somehat of a senior citizen, I said, "I've probably only got 20 more years to live, so it's fine with me-I'll take it."

While perusing the numbers tonite-alas the "win money for life" game-had not, as of yet, been posted. But a little box was on the screen where you could punch in your "cash 3" number to see if it had ever won. This includes the straight, straight-box, and all the other ways you can win. So, I punched in 9-2-3, the number me and Kitty had won with in 1994. A cool five hundred dollars. Unfortunately, we never won again.

What was interesting-to me, anyway-was that the lottery people get slammed when 3 of a kind come through:

Exhibit A: 000, the 1st column. 2nd column: number of winners. 3rd: Total payout.


Date Numbers Winners Total Payout
10/10/2006 Midday 000-16,649-$5,900,000
9/6/2005 Midday 000 9,130 $3,100,000
7/8/2005 Midday 000 9,488 $3,183,500
3/28/2005 Midday 000 11,198 $3,802,500
8/9/2004 Midday 000 14,572 $5,195,750
5/14/2004 Midday 000 10,958 $3,934,750
2/3/2003 Midday 000 16,087 $5,517,500
11/9/2002 Evening 000 19,897 $6,829,500
3/7/2001 Midday 000 10,429 $3,564,750
7/15/2000 Midday 000 20,941 $7,025,500
11/25/1999 Midday 000 30,355 $10,613,000
2/5/1999 Evening 000 17,174 $6,279,500

Ergo, take 539 for example:

1/17/2007 Evening 539 0 $177,600
10/18/2006 Evening 539 2,146 $228,950
5/9/2006 Midday 539 1,750 $178,780
4/11/2006 Evening 953 2,739 $324,492
11/20/2004 Midday 395 2,439 $235,410
8/23/2004 Midday 359 1,434 $153,820
8/3/2004 Midday 395 2,015 $195,990
2/13/2004 Midday 395 2,285 $231,710
10/24/2003 Midday 935 2,000 $168,710
9/17/2003 Midday 935 1,437 $118,220
9/9/2003 Midday 539 1,936 $164,900
6/13/2003 Midday 395 2,669 $254,790
12/23/2002 Evening 395 2,504 $222,250
11/6/2002 Midday 395 2,360 $235,650
2/4/2002 Midday 395 2,217 $183,810
11/26/2001 Midday 539 3,445 $289,460
9/26/2001 Midday 935 2,760 $258,930
7/25/2001 Midday 395 1,406 $116,410
7/14/2001 Evening 953 3,101 $266,030
5/11/2001 Midday 593 2,491 $226,040
3/10/2001 Evening 359 3,429 $415,330
11/15/2000 Midday 953 2,116 $199,130
7/14/2000 Evening 539 2,631 $293,040
7/12/2000 Midday 395 2,374 $236,570
3/1/2000 Evening 359 3,715 $460,430
12/7/1999 Evening 593 2,944 $273,070
10/24/1999 Evening 593 2,484 $229,490
10/20/1999 Evening 395 3,905 $362,730
5/3/1999 Evening 395 3,842 $324,980
11/13/1998 Midday 395 1,977 $180,980
10/31/1998 Midday 593 2,850 $231,160
6/23/1998 Midday 395 1,710 $149,440
2/25/1998 Midday 539 2,322 $231,510
11/24/1997 Evening 593 4,444 $375,100
7/9/1997 Evening 359 4,851 $642,160
3/31/1997 Evening 539 6,529 $604,910
1/22/1997 Evening 593 7,318 $617,820
7/27/1996 Evening 359 5,630 $744,000
11/22/1995 Evening 539 5,963 $594,900
10/9/1995 Evening 359 5,271 $606,960
6/20/1995 Evening 593 4,490 $397,310
2/23/1995 Evening 359 5,348 $702,460
2/3/1995 Evening 593 6,838 $632,180
8/18/1994 Evening 539 4,976 $479,970
3/2/1994 Evening 539 5,417 $522,870

I don't think yours truly would ever play this number, but the sign of the beast is a big winner, too, when it falls:

9/21/2004 Midday 666 6,554 $2,294,500
4/18/2004 Evening 666 6,605 $2,319,000
4/3/2004 Evening 666 16,628 $5,854,250
8/5/2003 Evening 666 12,351 $4,243,750
7/4/2003 Midday 666 24,092 $8,280,500
5/17/2002 Evening 666 19,473 $7,423,250
4/30/1999 Evening 666 27,923 $10,041,000
3/6/1999 Evening 666 20,423 $7,403,000
12/12/1998 Evening 666 22,062 $8,117,750
9/15/1994 Evening 666 11,994 $4,393,750
7/16/1994 Evening 666 11,277 $4,135,250
9/18/1993 Evening 666 1,139 $445,500


To plug in your lucky? number, here's the link: http://galottery.com/serv/do/winningNumberMatch

P.S. I hardly indulge in the lottery. Just every now and then. Odds to win the big game are something like 87 million to 1.