JaBbA's Hut

That's a quote from the defendants' attorney in the case of a Ohio Lottery player who didn't read the rules.

(Damn Idiot #1: ) John Struna bought between 40 and 55 $1 Buckeye Five tickets FOUR TIME A WEEK for FOUR YEARS.

Add it up. Average $50x4x52 = $10,400 per year.

(Damn Idiot #2: ) Either Struna can't multiply [probable] or the reporter really messed up [also probable]. The article claims he spent $125,000 per year, $6 a ticket. If someone had proofread the story, they would have realized that it doesn't add up. Either he spent a lot more, or he spent a TOTAL of about $40,000.

OK. It gets better.

(Damn Idiot #3: ) Struna bought the SAME NUMBERS ON EVERY WAGER. Buckeye Five pays $100,000 per wager. He figured he was in the running for $5 million. That's a LOT OF MONEY to piss away.

(Damn Idiot #4, and the best: ) There's a MAXIMUM $1 Million PAYOUT! In other words, the most you should EVER buy is TEN Tickets.

It gets even better. Struna hit on a day he bought 52 tickets. Each ticket was worth less than $20,000. And SOMEONE ELSE HIT IT TOO. So $1 Million was divided 53 ways.

He actually did make a lot of money. And, he made more because he bought so many tickets. But he sued for the $5.2 Million he THOUGHT he was getting. And he spent about $200 per week on a dream that if he had bothered to look at his ticket, he would have realized wasn't going to happen!

(Damn Idiot #5: Anyone who buys enough lottery tickets that they have to give something else up)

Oh, the defendant? The owner of the convenience store, who encouraged this idiot to buy so many tickets. The guy sued the lottery commission, and lost (fine print is legal print), but he got $1.3 million from the convenience store.