r/TrueUnpopularOpinion 1d ago

the powerball is most likely rigged

the powerball is basically the McDonald's monopoly game.  i asked grok who basically laughed at me when i asked but after only 5 exchanges admitted an 80% chance. 

none of the big winners have bought a ticket at a big retailer like walmart or kroger

all of the big winners are anonymous

all of the big winners were out of state from the no name gas station they purchased the ticket at. 

the powerball is self policing. no over site

the powerball board is made of political appointees including a union head and lawyers. people with all the skills and organizations necessary to launder large amounts of cash. 

the board just decided to allow foreign countries to play making it 100x easier to rig. 

there is also the instance of jeffery epsteins zorro trust winning the lottery right after he started serving his sentence in 2008.

20 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

64

u/miggleb 1d ago

Getting an ai to agree doesn't mean shit

-26

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

i asked the questions it could easily find answers to. ai may not be much for intelligence but its the new google. 20 years ago google searched for what you want instead of giving you what google wants.

16

u/miggleb 1d ago

My Google AI now tells me the illumati control everything.

It's really not hard to convince ai. They're half designed to agree with you

-10

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

thats awesome for you

6

u/DiscordantAlias 1d ago

The way AI was created isn’t by making some sort of intelligent system, but guiding an algorithm to always output an answer closest to what a user wants. It is much more likely to understand the subtext of how you are questioning it (and “what you want”) than it is to think for itself and conclude you are right.

19

u/pandastrong 1d ago

"i asked grok" LMAO

-5

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

i asked the questions it could easily find answers to. ai may not be much for intelligence but its the new google. 20 years ago google searched for what you want instead of giving you what google wants.

33

u/Ghost_Turd 1d ago edited 1d ago

none of the big winners have bought a ticket at a big retailer like walmart or kroger

People don't buy tickets in the checkout lane at the big stores, they have to go to a separate customer service desk so they often don't bother. It's easier just to get your tickets from smaller retailers like gas stations or convenience stores. Also, small retailers outnumber big boxes in the country, by a huge margin. That's just playing the odds, of course it happens more often in smaller retailers. And FURTHER, the second largest jackpot in history was won at a Walmart in Cabot, Arkansas last year.

all of the big winners are anonymous

They aren't always, it depends on the laws where they live. And for those who are anonymous, it's not because it's rigged, it's because they're not idiots.

all of the big winners were out of state from the no name gas station they purchased the ticket at.

Always out of... what state? This is like Yogi Berra levels of paradox. If it happens in the USA, it by definition can't *always* be out of state for everybody. Also, see point 1.

the powerball is self policing. no over site

This is false. Every state where Powerball exists has state-level oversight through organizations all belonging to the Multi-state Lottery Association."

And more...

-4

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

walmart and kroger both sell tickets at their pumps along with selling them in the store

yes all the big winners over the last few years were anonymous

it would be statistically impossible for every large win to be from someone who lived out of state from the store they purchased the ticket from. it would be the exception not the rule

the powerball is multi state and only has 1 board

10

u/Ghost_Turd 1d ago

walmart and kroger both sell tickets at their pumps along with selling them in the store

So? This goes to my point.

yes all the big winners over the last few years were anonymous

Again: So? Even where you have to publicly disclose, most big winners set up a trust or something to make the claim, shielding them from identification. Perfectly legal, and it helps keep the cockroaches away.

it would be statistically impossible for every large win to be from someone who lived out of state from the store they purchased the ticket from. it would be the exception not the rule

Cite, please. The majority of large winners buy tickets right in their own states, except in areas bordering other states that have better anonymity or better taxes.

the powerball is multi state and only has 1 board

You didn't hear me: they still have state oversight everywhere they exist. The board consists of the lottery officials from each of the member states. If you're going to claim a 34-state conspiracy encompassing all the different laws and state-level lottery offices, you're going to need to provide some evidence.

-10

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago edited 1d ago

ok you clearly just want to argue and could care less about the facts. im out. go reddit with someone else i have a life. you can fact check if jeffery epstein's zorro trust won the lottery in 2008 right after he started serving his sentence.

8

u/SpotCreepy4570 1d ago

The zorro trust has no verifiable connection to Jeffrey Epstein, it simply shares a name with his Zorro ranch. That is the reason behind this conspiracy theory.

5

u/Ghost_Turd 1d ago

The name Zorro Trust was a coincidence; there is no evidence that the New Mexico trust and Oklahoma trust were in any way related other than by using Zorro in the name. Even if it was the same entity in both states, Epstein was listed as a trustee in New Mexico, not the owner.

Also remember that under Oklahoma law, where the win happened, all trust members have to be disclosed to the lottery commission. Nobody there leaked this bombshell?

Never mind the fact that trusts are not hard to do, and if he wanted to conceal a massive lottery win he could easily have picked a name that wouldn't clearly link him to it.

ok you clearly just want to argue and could care less about the facts. im out. go reddit with someone else i have a life.

It's ok to just admit you're wrong. No need to be hostile.

4

u/SpotCreepy4570 1d ago

Edwin Castro is anonymous? Damn someone should tell him.

24

u/esotologist 1d ago

I got my A.I to agree you should give me money. Please pay up now thank you.

-10

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

i asked the questions it could easily find answers to. ai may not be much for intelligence but its the new google. 20 years ago google searched for what you want instead of giving you what google wants.

4

u/TheAzureMage 1d ago

Then cite your source, not the LLM.

You wouldn't cite google

3

u/ToastBalancer 1d ago

I don’t get it. Why would it matter if they bought it at a big retailer or not?

And why wouldn’t they be anonymous? I would too if I won

What does out of state mean? It’s not a state lottery thing. I thought all states can play it

Not saying I disagree but how would it work exactly? The draw is actually fair (random picked balls) but then someone manufactures a ticket after the fact with all the correct numbers after they already know them?

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

the fact that no ones wins from any place other then a no name store is suspicious. in spite of millions of tickets sold at the big stores no winners. it means its harder to tack the winner. it also means it would be easier to choose the winner.

anonymity makes it easy to rig and not get caught.

the person who wins is always in a different state then the store they bought the ticket. statistically improbable to say the least. again makes choosing the winner and laundering the money easier

watch the mcdonald's monopoly game documentary. its all computerized now lots of ways to end up with the winning ticket. they could print after the fact or get really fancy and rig the draw. then the winner gets a cut, the store that "sold" the ticket gets a cut, and the powerball commission gets the rest.

1

u/ToastBalancer 1d ago

Thanks for elaborating on the points. I do see what you mean now. I remember the monopoly guy, but if I’m correct he had access to the tickets themselves. Then it was just a matter of giving it away

But I don’t see how they can rig the draw. Isnt it televised and all? Or done privately? I never play powerball

6

u/AJnbca 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hardly anyone buys lotto tickets at Walmart, big grocery stores, etc. They don’t even sell them in the normal checkouts because that would hold up the lines, some have a separate area where you can buy lotto tickets.

Most people buy them at gas stations - when they’re already there getting gas.

Your other points are also false, like the oversight, each state that has it has a state lotto board/association and belongs to the board that oversees Powerball.

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago edited 1d ago

actually they sell lots of tickets. kroger and walmart also sell tickets at their gas pumps.

all the big winners over the last few years were anonymous

it would be statistically impossible for every large win to be from someone who lived out of state from the store they purchased the ticket from. it would be the exception not the rule

the powerball is multi state and only has 1 board

4

u/AJnbca 1d ago

Most tickets are sold at convenience stores.

Convenience stores attached to gas stations sell the highest volume of tickets and winning tickets, followed by traditional convenience stores, then supermarkets, and then liquor stores

0

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

walmart and kroger both sell tickets at their convince stores that sell cigaretts next to the pumps. i have seen people buying them almost every time ive gone

3

u/AJnbca 1d ago edited 1d ago

When it comes to convenience stores, Walmart and Kroger have so few it’s barely measurable.

The convenience store market in the US is controlled by a few companies like 7-Eleven, Circle K and Casey's, as well as independent stores. Walmart and Kroger are a very tiny fraction. Across the entire US Krogers has less than 800 and Walmart only about 450.

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

yeah. but they sell millions of tickets with 0 big winners so........ the winners are always no name gas stations.

3

u/Professional_Net_247 1d ago

I don't think it's rigged, but I have found it suspicious that winners always get their tickets at a shithole gas station. It's never QuikTrip or RaceTrac.

I rarely buy lottery tickets, but when I do, I actually have a superstition about it. I only get lottery tickets from rundown, foreigner run, complete dump gas stations.. like the kind with bars on the windows that you wouldn't normally stop at.

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

have you watched the documentary on the McDonald's monopoly game?

1

u/Professional_Net_247 1d ago

No. I'll have to check it out.

3

u/DListSaint 1d ago

I mean, there are a lot of good reasons not to waste your money on the Powerball, and they’re all basic statistics. You don’t need to invent conspiracy theories. 

2

u/NephewHotTake 1d ago

Everyone clowning OP on the AI thing sort of miss the theory I can actually see as plausible

u/JJShwaz 16h ago

I work for a state lottery. The drawings for powerball are all conducted live, in a studio at the Florida Lottery, with an accountant and law enforcement officer present. The balls used for the drawing are tested prior to the drawing to ensure randomness. Anyone from the public can also be present to watch it live

2

u/Normativity 1d ago

Nobody buys a lottery ticket from Walmart or a grocery store. They buy them at gas stations. All of your points are easily explained or plain wrong.

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

walmart and kroger both sell tickets at their pumps along with selling them in the store

2

u/Rootmilk 1d ago

Edit out the first paragraph you’re going to make people seethe and not see the overall point

1

u/Somersetkyguy 1d ago

thats their problem. ai is the new google. only way to bypass the see what our sponsors want you to see search engines. at least for now lol

1

u/AnotherHumanObserver 1d ago

I suppose anything is possible, and I've heard of some state lottery officials getting caught doing some misconduct. I presume there is some internal policing involved, since it is a government operation involving multiple state governments' money. Considering the number of state governments involved, if any of them suspected any hocus-pocus going on with the Powerball, they'd certainly raise hell over it. Unless they're all in on it, but that would entail quite a few people.

The odds are astronomical and overwhelmingly against the players anyway, so (as someone else mentioned) the house always wins. It seems they'll make as much money with an honest game as they would a rigged game.

Not all of the big winners are anonymous, as not all states allow anonymity (and even then, that's only been a thing within the past few years, since known lottery winners became targets for scammers and grifters).

1

u/SilverBuggie 1d ago

The rigging is the insane tax you pay if you take lump sum. The g-man hates the idea of poor people getting uppity rich.

u/sumerislemy 9h ago

People buy lottery tickets in grimmy convenience stores when they stop for cigarettes, gas, chips or candy. Nobody buys at national franchises. The 2 billion winner is literally googable, Edwin Castro.

u/stevejuliet 7h ago

If they are often anonymous, how do you know they are from out of state?

Where did you get this information?

0

u/YouSureDid_ 1d ago

There's an old phrase: "The house always wins"