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One number from winning a million dollars - after tax! That's right. On Wednesday, 01/14/09, our group of 24 lottery players came within just one digit of winning the $47 million jackpot. You can read the details at the following URL: http://www.lotteryalliance.com/winners.html
It was a good learning experience in several ways. First of all, I discovered that even though the state of California is ready, willing and able... no, downright eager to take your dollars for the purchase of a lottery ticket. The state is not so eager to pay out money to players whenever they win a prize totaling more than $600. For lottery prize money up to $599, players can quickly and easily collect from any authorized, lottery retailer in the state. This is, pretty much, the standard within the lottery industry.
However, for prize money totaling more than $600, the state of California makes a player complete a form and wait 4-to-6 weeks to receive a check. This is absurd! Our team matched 4-of-5 numbers in the primary group, along with matching the Mega Ball in the SuperLOTTO Plus game. The pari-mutuel payout was $2,644 for the prize bracket in which we won. In this drawing, alone, the state of California had already collected millions of dollars in cash from players because retailers don't take credit cards for lottery play.
The cash is ALREADY in the hands of the state, which collects millions each week, remember. Still, they make players wait 4-to-6 weeks for prize money. WHY? It's called "float." The state of California gets to use our money to earn interest while the players wait to get their rightful winnings, which, by the way totaled $1,063,249.00 in total prize money won in the SuperLOTTO Plus game on 01/14/09.
After researching North American lotteries for more than 8 years, I also know that about five percent of the winnings - roughly $53,162.45 - will never be collected by winners because many owners lose their tickets, accidentally throw them away, forget about them, or wash them into oblivion, so nobody collects. I have seen jackpots of $20 million dollars and more go uncollected because somebody misplaced a winning ticket. OUCH... I would hate to find a winning ticket for a jackpot after the time deadline had passed. This is normally 180 days, 6 months. The states are not sympathetic and would simply say, "Sorry, that's the rule." And, it would keep the money.
So, under these circumstances, when the team members in the pool are wanting to roll the winnings into more chances - unless the team captain (me) can cover the winnings and wait 4-to-6 weeks for the prize money, the players have to wait for their chances.
This makes no sense because if nobody wins the jackpot, the players want their chances, bought with prize money, immediately because the jackpot rolled up to a higher amount. In 4-to-6 weeks, most likely, somebody else has walked away with the prize while many players are waiting for money that should be paid via a check on the SAME DAY the winning ticket is presented to a regional lottery office. I have collected amounts in the $2,500 range in two other states and it took less than an hour to get a check.
Perhaps this is why the state of California is running a deficit budget... inefficiency! Lord knows the state has the money, but it apparently squanders "our" funds as fast as they collect the money.
The other lesson I had verified was the fact that the "Fear of Loss" is one of the most powerful motivators for people to take action. After the calculated taxes, our win netted $1,800, which would have provided $75 for each team member. Most of the team members wanted to let the money roll into more chances, and a few people wanted to take the cash. We gave everyone the option for taking their payment. However, when the few people who were contemplating the payout saw that the pool they were about to opt out of would be playing several hundred chances in two large lotteries, they decided to go with the flow and allow their money to play with everyone else. Hey, I make no bones about it, I would HATE to drop out of a pool and then have the pool win a big one. So, I have the same "fear of loss" psyche like everyone else. I admit it - I'm human.
This "fear" factor is also the reason that the XzottoLotto Alliance will have one of the best retention rates of any MLM company that I have ever seen. This is by design. While I put the business plan together for Xzotto, I did test marketing in two major cities in Texas - Dallas and Houston. If players know that they are going to have chances to share in a multi-million dollar jackpot for which they don't have to pay, then they are going to stay in the game.
Life is a numbers game, as is the lottery. The power of numbers are in our favor to create more winners and players who win every drawing. And, many will make much money by building a sales team marketing our unique, lottery team management software - Xzotto. So, if you happen to want to join a team of winners, don't just play to win... Plan to Win! Join our winning team.
It was a good learning experience in several ways. First of all, I discovered that even though the state of California is ready, willing and able... no, downright eager to take your dollars for the purchase of a lottery ticket. The state is not so eager to pay out money to players whenever they win a prize totaling more than $600. For lottery prize money up to $599, players can quickly and easily collect from any authorized, lottery retailer in the state. This is, pretty much, the standard within the lottery industry.
However, for prize money totaling more than $600, the state of California makes a player complete a form and wait 4-to-6 weeks to receive a check. This is absurd! Our team matched 4-of-5 numbers in the primary group, along with matching the Mega Ball in the SuperLOTTO Plus game. The pari-mutuel payout was $2,644 for the prize bracket in which we won. In this drawing, alone, the state of California had already collected millions of dollars in cash from players because retailers don't take credit cards for lottery play.
The cash is ALREADY in the hands of the state, which collects millions each week, remember. Still, they make players wait 4-to-6 weeks for prize money. WHY? It's called "float." The state of California gets to use our money to earn interest while the players wait to get their rightful winnings, which, by the way totaled $1,063,249.00 in total prize money won in the SuperLOTTO Plus game on 01/14/09.
After researching North American lotteries for more than 8 years, I also know that about five percent of the winnings - roughly $53,162.45 - will never be collected by winners because many owners lose their tickets, accidentally throw them away, forget about them, or wash them into oblivion, so nobody collects. I have seen jackpots of $20 million dollars and more go uncollected because somebody misplaced a winning ticket. OUCH... I would hate to find a winning ticket for a jackpot after the time deadline had passed. This is normally 180 days, 6 months. The states are not sympathetic and would simply say, "Sorry, that's the rule." And, it would keep the money.
So, under these circumstances, when the team members in the pool are wanting to roll the winnings into more chances - unless the team captain (me) can cover the winnings and wait 4-to-6 weeks for the prize money, the players have to wait for their chances.
This makes no sense because if nobody wins the jackpot, the players want their chances, bought with prize money, immediately because the jackpot rolled up to a higher amount. In 4-to-6 weeks, most likely, somebody else has walked away with the prize while many players are waiting for money that should be paid via a check on the SAME DAY the winning ticket is presented to a regional lottery office. I have collected amounts in the $2,500 range in two other states and it took less than an hour to get a check.
Perhaps this is why the state of California is running a deficit budget... inefficiency! Lord knows the state has the money, but it apparently squanders "our" funds as fast as they collect the money.
The other lesson I had verified was the fact that the "Fear of Loss" is one of the most powerful motivators for people to take action. After the calculated taxes, our win netted $1,800, which would have provided $75 for each team member. Most of the team members wanted to let the money roll into more chances, and a few people wanted to take the cash. We gave everyone the option for taking their payment. However, when the few people who were contemplating the payout saw that the pool they were about to opt out of would be playing several hundred chances in two large lotteries, they decided to go with the flow and allow their money to play with everyone else. Hey, I make no bones about it, I would HATE to drop out of a pool and then have the pool win a big one. So, I have the same "fear of loss" psyche like everyone else. I admit it - I'm human.
This "fear" factor is also the reason that the XzottoLotto Alliance will have one of the best retention rates of any MLM company that I have ever seen. This is by design. While I put the business plan together for Xzotto, I did test marketing in two major cities in Texas - Dallas and Houston. If players know that they are going to have chances to share in a multi-million dollar jackpot for which they don't have to pay, then they are going to stay in the game.
Life is a numbers game, as is the lottery. The power of numbers are in our favor to create more winners and players who win every drawing. And, many will make much money by building a sales team marketing our unique, lottery team management software - Xzotto. So, if you happen to want to join a team of winners, don't just play to win... Plan to Win! Join our winning team.
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