First up we’re going to tell you again, tonight is the Powerball draw and it sits at a princely $1,5 billion (R25 billion). Tickets available HERE, tata ma chance and all that.

Now let’s talk about the rather well-off peeps living it up in Beverly Hills, playground of the already filthy rich, who are spending a heap of money on trying to become even filthier rich. The biggest draw of all time is causing everyone to join in on the fun, something that’s caught the attention of the LA Times:

The lottery — especially when it swells to numbers that would make most millionaires look poor — holds an allure to more than people with dreams of climbing out of poverty or paying off mortgages and student loans.

At Colker’s Union Oil 76 station in Beverly Hills, the flow of traffic has been “crazy,” employee Rosie Perez said. On Saturday, she said, they weren’t selling gas because the pumps were blocked by people who came to purchase tickets. There has been a mix of customers coming to the station, Perez said. Some are middle class, others are wealthy.

“They buy from one [ticket] to $1,000, $2,000, $3,000,” Perez said.

Sometimes, she said, people send their housekeeper or gardener to buy them a ticket.

Another worker at a Rite-Aid in Beverley Hills tells a similar tale of excess:

…some customers [are] purchasing thousands of dollars worth of tickets. Their expensive purses, shoes and tailored suits provide sharp clues that they are not among L.A.’s blue-collar workers.

“By the way they’re dressed, the things they have on, the way they present themselves — they seem like businesspeople, rich people,” the employee said. “Just based on appearance alone.”

My suggestion? Tell the boss to buy a few tickets for the office, then decide on how the winnings will be shared out. Then, because you’re crafty like that, buy a few for yourself and dream of never working another day in your life.

[source:latimes]