Hi in my story plan I was going to have a character win the lottery, but I'm fairly sure there is no lottery in America. So my question, obviously, is do they? If so how big is the prize money normally and does it roll over? P.S. If you don't have a lottery it is where you buy a lottery ticket, select a few numbers out of a hundred. Then on the Saturday of that week numbers are selected at random and if your numbers matched then you would get however much money. Normally the prize money is a million pounds, but it has been known to reach around £120 million if it rolls over e.g. no one wins so the prize money is carried forward a week.
Why don't you put your protagonist in your own country and save yourself the trouble? Is it important that he should be in America?
Yeah The character is a bit of a loser who wins the lottery, then because he always fantasized about being a private detective, becomes one. He was obsessed with film noir and chooses to set it up in New York. So yes because, no where is quite like NYC in the same way no where is quite the same as London or Shanghai. Also no other country has ever really had private detectives. Private detectives are also more associated with America. Of course it's more of a parody that takes a wrong turn and ends up being a serious story. I would never dream of writing an actual "hard-boiled" detective.
There are in fact many glorious private detectives in Europe! They just don't have the film noir style we usually connect them with. It's your story of course, but here is a thought: if he lives where you live, you ged rid of all the research problems and you'll make your story credible. Most importantly, think of all the possibilities of parody, about a man in the UK who wants to be Sam Spade, the conflicts, the funny situations, all that. I'm just saying, give it a thought.
That was my other thought of a Brit going to the States , but I think it would work better. I'd be a hypocrite if I attempted to write an American and got it wrong. But I'm visiting new york in a few weeks, as a man from the UK, and it can only increase the believability. Thanks.
Google: Lottery USA and see what happens. To get back to your first question. Our American friends are asleep right now, but I'm sure they'll answer eventually!
hell yes we do. Many different kinds. From the scratch off to the one you described. It's only illegal in 4 states. But yeah, just google it. In NYC, Mega Millions I think is one of the more common ones. Atleast my mother does the scratchcard lotteries.
Of course New York State has a lottery! Google is your friend There's people around where I live who blow hundreds on lottery tickets. You can play at most grocery stores and convenience stores. I'm underage so I dunno much about it. Google is your best bet.
There are thousands and millions of different types of lottery's in America. In Ohio alone we have a hundred million [exaggeration] different types. I know for a fact that we have the Mega-Millions and stuff like that.. A little research on the scene and setting and you'll do fine.
I somewhat laughed at this. The first question that came to my mind when I saw it was 'which one'? There are so many lotteries that it's ridiculous. It just depends on where you are.
Lotteries in America? Nah, we aren't a nation of gamblers, frittering away our money on games of chance... Oh wait. Yes, there are lotteries. Many, many lotteries. For an example, google Massachusetts State Lottery. Then there are forty-nine more states. They'll give you odds and payoffs, etc.
Thanks for the replies All google came up with where so disturbing "lottery green card" ads and websites most likely set up but human traffickers, so google's a bust.
Look up mega-millions jackpot. Although, maybe that is just specific to Ohio. If he's in New York, google "New York Lottery" How many links did you look at on Google? I found this a link there that matched. Outlined all of the lotteries in New York including how they were played. Looks like a complete list of lotteries in NY. I googled "New York Lotteries" -- first link.
spud, you fluffed your google test! ;-) i just googled 'us lotteries'... google automatically gave me a menu including 'list of us lotteries'... and a single click pulled up over 24 million hits! [in 0.34 seconds!]
And the green card lottery isn't human trafficking. It's fair and run by the immigration office. It's a way of limiting the citizens accepted into the US without them needing to be judged "good enough" by some arbitrary standard.
State lotteries have been around since about the 80s, and even before that we had the Mafia running numbers. Then of course there's legalized gambling in some states and Indian reservation casinos. We love us some gamblin'
