Powerball is at $700 million and counting

[Petunia 100]

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.

Oh, I see why. Googling more about Power Ball, I see I have the game wrong. They don't choose 5 numbers out of 69. They choose 5 numbers out of 69 and 1 number out of 26, which is the Power Ball. So, then what? To hit the jackpot, you have to match the Power Ball too? Do you choose six numbers then? And the Power Ball match must be that particular one, whereas the other 5 are interchangeable?

[rennigade]

Oh, I see why. Googling more about Power Ball, I see I have the game wrong. They don't choose 5 numbers out of 69. They choose 5 numbers out of 69 and 1 number out of 26, which is the Power Ball. So, then what? To hit the jackpot, you have to match the Power Ball too? Do you choose six numbers then? And the Power Ball match must be that particular one, whereas the other 5 are interchangeable?

Yup...all the numbers have to match including the powerball.

[feh]

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

Because the potential return on your money is larger.

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

If I bought a ticket whenever the pot was $50m, I'd be buying one every week. I don't want to spend $100 on lottery tickets per year.

[Petunia 100]

Well, I parted with $5 for Power Ball last night. I was at my part-time job, and some of the employees and patrons there were doing a pool, so I joined. How crummy would it be if they hit and I had said no?

[bjl584]

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.

For this to work you also have to be the only winner. If there are multiple winners, then your jackpot is cut in half or more.

[Nika]

I'm not sure why 1.3 billion creates so much more interest than say 100 million. I don't see how beyond several million it would be so much better

I would be happy with the smaller amount, where I don't have to have security and worry about my children being kidnapped. Plus, I think I would have a sense of social responsibility with this kind of money, and that would be a full time job in itself.