Posted on 10/16/2018 10:04:35 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Some lucky lottery players will walk away with huge winnings as the combined Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots now approach almost $1 billion. But let's get real: Chances are, it's not going to be you.
The odds of winning the combined $999 million jackpots stands at 1 in 88 quadrillion -- that's 88 thousand trillion, or the numeral 1 followed by 15 zeros, according to the Allstate Data Science Team. The previous odds, when the jackpots were smaller, stood at roughly 1 in 75 quadrillion.
To be sure, lottery players will have slightly better odds of winning either one of the jackpots. The odds of scoring the $654 million Mega MIllions prize is 1 in 302 million, while the $345 million Powerball is sporting odds of 1 in 292 million, Allstate said.
To grasp how unlikely even those odds are, it's worth checking them against the probability of other rare events. The likelihood of being struck by lightning within one's lifetime is 1 in 3,000.
You're also much more likely to date a millionaire, which carries a likelihood of 1 in 215. Even better, Americans have fairly strong odds of becoming a millionaire through work and investment, with economists at the St. Louis Federal Reserve calculating that people younger than 40 years old have a 1 in 55 chance of achieving a 7-figure net worth.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Still buying a ticket.
I rationalize it to myself that I don’t smoke. I’m saving a lot of money. I can spend some of that.
Lotteries - regressive taxation of math underachievers
“Ya can’t win if ya don’t play...”
Exactly. I bought a Mega-Millions ticket for tonight.
I know my chances of winning are pretty close to nil - but I can definitely dream about it.
What am I not reading right in this exurpt? Someone help me.
If your odds of winning the jackpot are one in 88 quadrillion, then it seems to me that no one is going to win this thing for a long long time. Are you telling me that 88 quadrillion tickets are being bought? I doubt a fraction of 1 quadrillion tickets are even getting purchased. *head scratch*
Looks like the odds of someone winning both jackpots are one in 88 quadrillion.
I always justify buying lottery tickets this way when it’s over $500 million.
For $2 we have really interesting dinner conversation.
The odds may be slim but it still only takes 1 ticket to win regardless of how many are sold
The jackpots are always overstated. If you take it as a lump sum you get half of what the stated jackpot is.
And then you have to pay taxes on that half.
So you really get about 1/4 of the jackpot.
The jackpots are always overstated. If you take it as a lump sum you get half of what the stated jackpot is.
And then you have to pay taxes on that half.
So you really get about 1/4 of the jackpot.
JUST WIN, BABY!!!
(unless you’re Jon Gruden.)
They both appear to be fair bets: The price of a ticket is less than the estimated post tax cash value of the prize. When this happens then I buy a bunch of tickets - up to the price of my normal takeout meal.
I bought my tickets on my way to work on Sunday.
If I win, FR will be taken care of nicely.
I always said that if God wanted me to win the lotto, I’d only have to buy one ticket. So I bought one 21 years ago.
I lost...
You have a better chance of being Cherokee than winning.
Heh! Since you posted that three times, would I get THREE quarters of the jackpot?
;-)
$2 is cheap for such a great time of dreaming and escape from reality.
Movies cost 5x that much.
So, there is a chance...
Looks like the odds of someone winning both jackpots are one in 88 quadrillion.
~~~
Thank you!
That’s the part I wasn’t getting. My reading comprehension needs extra help today.
Can you imagine some jerk out there winning both lotteries??!!??
Not only will they have won both, but it would probably be one of those guys who says something like “I’m not going to retire, I like my job and want to keep busy”
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