How much would it cost to buy all the possibilities for a super lotto?

Somewhere just above 20 million, I think. So if the Lotto is up to over 21 million and you’ve got a spare 20 million hanging around, go for it. Actually, it should be over 21 million just in case you have to share it out. That’s with just a plain old six number, 1 to 52, Lotto. Throw in a Megaball and you’re on your own.

I read somewhere the net payout is ~35% of the net take. It is not a good investment for the hopeful participants. Remember the proceeds are supposedly going to pay for “Education”. (probably the Director’s childrens education.) For the lottery to raise money it obviously has to pay out less than it takes in. Save your money.
But to answer your question, I’d go with adding the total payout and multiplying it by 3. That should get you close. Let’s see what the statistics jocks come up with.

@worriedguy Education = swim lessons in the Directors olympic size inground pool.

@chyna …on the yacht.

Hard to give a definite answer, unless you knew the odds of winning and the amount of money bet. a one dollar bet would be less in the total, than a five dollar bet for all possible betting combinations.

Wikipedia has a nice breakdown of how to calculate the number of combinations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lottery_mathematics

I’m assuming we are using these rules:
http://www.lottery.com/news/official_rules.cfm/GameID/CA547

Specifically: “Pick five numbers from 1 to 47 and a MEGA number from 1 to 27 on the playslip or choose QuickPick® and let the computer pick them for you.

…

SuperLotto Plus costs $1 per play per draw. Remember, you can also select up to 5 additional Quick Picks® on one playslip.”

So its
C(47, 5) * 27 = [47!/(42! * 5!)] * 27 = 41,416,353

So thats $ 41,416,353

Woah.