Powerball is at $700 million and counting

[bjl584]

I'm not a gambler, but for $2 I'm going to take a chance on this one.

[ua_guy]

Powerball odds are 1 in 292 million, right?

DH understands the odds but still insists on lighting multiples of $2 on fire for this series. "If we don't play, we'll never win!"

He's much more hopeful than me. Same with guys at work. "Do you want to be the ONLY one left behind if we win as a group? Put your $2 in."

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Just don't pay attention to the advice given in today's "Article" posted on the matter on the fron page of SavingAdvice. Geeze, Louise!

[tripods68]

We have several "lottery pool" at work running...don't want to be the only one that didn't get it.

[feh]

When it gets large (> $200m), I buy a single ticket.

[wvhillbilly]

I keep seeing this and I have to ask: Why do more people play when the jackpot gets huge?

Your odds are the same, was $50,000,000 not enough to waste your time on??

[ua_guy]

I keep seeing this and I have to ask: Why do more people play when the jackpot gets huge?

Your odds are the same, was $50,000,000 not enough to waste your time on??

Exactly. It's the hype...nobody wants to be left behind. Same reason why non-football people suddenly become football fans around the superbowl if it's their local team that's competing.

This is the reason when I do play the lotto, I toss money at state lotteries. Small jackpots in comparison, but much, much better odds--yet still infinitesimal. ($500k would still be a huge win..).

Of course I'll buy a powerball ticket or two for this weekend...the entertainment is worth a couple of bucks.

[rennigade]

Bought a ticket yesterday. Handed the clerk 40 nickels (wanted to get rid of change)...p*ssed people off behind me...didnt win the lottery...mission accomplished.

Ill buy a ticket tomorrow with a $1 bill.

I play the mega millions probably 30 times throughout the year...doesnt matter what the jackpot is. Since powerball is so huge ill throw away an extra buck.

It gets annoying when people say "you cant win if you dont play." Really...do you think? Are you sure about that...you mean if I dont get a ticket I cant win...come on...you're just messing with me right? We call this the duh paradigm.

Ill also sum up any future responses to this thread...its a tax on the poor...its a tax on the stupid. Thread can be locked now.

[disneysteve]

The article on the home page is inane. Garbage like that simply doesn't belong on this site. Most of that info was on a story on the news this morning actually and it's pretty much all false.

The fact that 70% of winners have been computer picks doesn't mean that computer picks have a better chance of winning. It means that about 70% of tickets sold are computer picks.

The fact that more winning tickets have been bought in PA needs to be correlated with the percentage of tickets sold in PA.

You do not have a better chance of winning when the jackpot is high. Probability doesnt' work that way. The odds are the same no matter what the jackpot is or how many tickets are sold.

The fact that certain numbers have come up more often than others is pure chance, totally random. It does not mean that those numbers are more likely to come up again in the future.

[wvhillbilly]

If the Jackpot is $700-Million and there's only 292-Million chances of winning...
Theoretically couldn't a bored billionaire just purchase every combination of numbers, take the annuity & profit ??

[Petunia 100]

If the Jackpot is $700-Million and there's only 292-Million chances of winning...
Theoretically couldn't a bored billionaire just purchase every combination of numbers, take the annuity & profit ??

I suspect the odds are not nearly that good. How many numbers are possible in Power Ball? How many numbers are chosen? How many do you have to match? (Does it show that I do not play?)

Remember that if two or more people win, they must split the prize.

[Petunia 100]

I've been Googling and answered my own questions.

There are 69 numbers, 5 numbers are drawn, and you must match them all.

The probability of matching the first number is 1/69.
The probability of matching the second number is 1/68.
The probability of matching the third number is 1/67.
The probability of matching the fourth number is 1/66.
The probability of matching the fifth number is 1/65.

The probability of matching all 5 is:

1/69 x 1/68 x 1/67 x 1/66 x 1/65 = 1/1,348,621,560

It would cost 1.348 billion to purchase every possible number combination.

[disneysteve]

I've been Googling and answered my own questions.

1,348,621,560

Powerball says the odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338. That's a lot lower than the number you came up with.

To answer wvhillbilly's question, though, it is theoretically possible but not actually achievable. For yesterday's drawing, for example, there were 176 million tickets sold nationwide. It wouldn't be possible to get 292 million tickets. You'd need every ticket seller in the country to be running 24/7 printing tickets exclusively for you and even then they might not even come close to that total.

[JoeP]

The odds are so bad that even 176 million tickets sold couldn't hit the jackpot. That's is simply staggering.

[disneysteve]

The odds are so bad that even 176 million tickets sold couldn't hit the jackpot. That's is simply staggering.

Well you have to assume that some percentage of those tickets were duplicates, betting on the same group of numbers, so not 176 million unique combos. And, as stated, there are over 292 million possibilities.