>>>>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20530196/
>>>>This couple has won the lottery AGAIN!.
>>>>
>>>>The first time around they won 2.5 million. If they had invested it in a 5% interest
>>>>savings acount, they could be living of $125,000 a year. So, other than greed, why play again?
>>>
>>>This just goes to show that, in statistics, your chances of winning are the same week after week, even if you've won before.
>>>
>>>"Acting Lottery Director Gardner Gurney said this was only the third time in Lotto’s history that a winner has hit the jackpot twice. The odds of winning just once were 22.5 million to one."
>>>
>>> ... and a second time, therefore is still 22.5 million : 1, surely. The fact that it's happened twice before is further indicative evidence of this.
>>>
>>>AFAIK
>>
>>As I mentioned the missing part of the equation is how much of the initial 2.5m did they spend on tickets between times.
>
>I wonder. I used to work behind the bar in one of those working men's clubs. I'd watch people rejoice when they won the, say, £20 jackpot on the one-armed bandit, but I'd have watched the same people playing the damn thing for hours a night, months at a time, before this happened, so they were maybe only getting back their stakes if they were lucky. The same people, after winning, of course, would immediatelyt commence to put the whole lot back in again. DUH_UH!
>
>>
>>Anyway, off thread but on topic, I can't resist sharing this:
>>Using my online share dealing site (which shall remain nameless) I bought 500 shares yesterday at a whisker over £2 each. This afternoon they were at £4.88 so I immediately flogged the lot netting almost £1,500 in clear profit.
>
>Way to go you! Alright for some who have the odd £1k knocking around for investing though! :-) BTW, have they gone up again yet, showing you peaked too soon, or do you not wanna know afetr the fact?
>
>>The cash won't be in the account till Monday but checking back it looks as if the buy quote was the one in error and that deal is done and dusted.
>>Extra celebratory pint tonight - but I pity the poor programmer who introduced that gremlin......

My uncle and aunt used to go to the horse races every weekend. They each took $20.00 and when it was gone, it was gone. As far as I'm concerned, that's the only way to do it. Figure how much you're willing to lose, and take no more than that. Leave the credit cards at home.