E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSEach ticket has a one in nearly 176 million chance of winning, but that didn't stop people from dreaming about what they'd do if they won the jackpot. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
The Mega Millions lottery hit $640 million Friday, according to lottery officials, raising what was already a record-shattering prize.
That's a cash payout of $462 million, according to the Mega Millions web site.
The even larger prize is expected to add to the lottery frenzy across the country. Hopeful future-millionaires have formed long lines at stores across the 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands, where tickets are sold.
What to buy when you win the jackpot
The drawing for the fortune is set for late Friday in Atlanta.
Ticket sales in California are expected to hit $333 million, with $189 million in New York and $94 million in Texas. In all, the lottery is expected to generate sales of $1.4 billion for this drawing.
Nobody matched all six numbers in Tuesday's regular draw, and the total jackpot has been growing since.
Players pay $1 for a ticket and must pick five numbers from 1 to 56 plus a Mega number from 1 to 46 to win the jackpot.
But at $1 a ticket, what are the odds of picking a Mega Millions winning ticket -- even at a "lucky" store?
According to Dr. Ken Alexander, a mathematics professor at USC, the odds of winning are one in 175.7 million. That raises the question: Why not guarantee you win by buying all possible ticket combinations?
“Well, a number of things get in the way of that,” Alexander said.
Personal finance expert Suze Orman weighs in on the Mega Millions craze.
Assuming 350 million tickets are sold, there’s a better than 90 percent chance that there will be at least two winners. So after taxes, you’ll likely come out with a loss.
And, assuming it takes about five seconds to fill out each card, you'd need five years to mark the bubbles on the game tickets. There goes that plan.
View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.
A student and her friend dropped a more reasonable $20 at a 7-11 near USC Thursday for 20 tickets. That made Michelle Chong's odds of winning 1 in 9 million -- daunting odds, but at least she bought herself some excitement Friday.
"It's just the excitement that you might win," said Chong. "The number is so big."
Why even skeptics are rushing to buy a Mega Millions ticket
Had Chong purchased 50 tickets, her chances of winning the jackpot would be comparable with her odds of being struck by lightning.
Based on U.S. averages, you're about 8,000 times more likely to be murdered than win the lottery and 20,000 times more likely to die in a vehicle crash.
But what about the strategy of choosing outlets that have previously sold winners?
"If you buy them from some store that sells a lot of tickets, then the store is more likely to have a winner,” Alexander said. “But your 10 (tickets) have the same probability as if you buy them from anywhere else.”
In the hopes of striking it rich, people across the country are scooping up Mega Millions tickets. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $390 million in March 2007, when the prize was split between two tickets sold in Georgia and New Jersey. The largest Powerball jackpot was $365 million won in 2006 on one ticket held by eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant.
Patrick Healy and John Simerson of NBCLosAngeles.com contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
If I win im sooo going to buy a New BBq smoker! :)
I'm soo going to donate all my Faded Glory clothing and get me some o' them fancy Old Navy duds.
I won't have to look at price tags at Aeropostal
Hell, you won't have to GO to aeropostal
:)
Aeropostal, isn't that where the peasants shop? LOL
I think I'd buy me one of them Senator thingies
Buying lottery tickets is a huge waste of money. Besides, the person that finally wins this ridiculously huge pot will almost certainly have their lives ruined - just like other big winners in the past. Be careful what you wish for. Save your money.
Well then Bring On the Ruin!!
glenda-again - thanks so much for the giggle!
Glenda - get two of them thingies - I hear they are small, and have a short shelf life ;-)
Who cares what the odds are. It's a half a billion dollars.
I just have to repeat it.
that's half a billion dollars
Peg, you are most welcome. Faho, I could buy two, I've heard they're pretty cheap or so they behave anyway. As far as their life span that is as long as my money holds out, then they lose my number. Sorry, as usual I'm on a rant about politicians.
The Democratic plan is to use the money to fix a bridge somewhere, but not close to your house.
The Republican plan is to give 1.5 million dollars each to the 400 wealthiest families in America; distribute 25 cents per person to every American including the 400 wealthiest families; borrow $38,250,000 from Communist China to make up the shortfall; let the bridge collapse; eliminate Social Security because we're too far in debt with China to pay Grandpa back the money he's been paying in for the last 50 years; and then blame President Obama.
Hello 1%!
Frank, you better say Greetings from now on. They are too good for Hello.
A student and her friend dropped a more reasonable $20 at a 7-11 near USC Thursday for 20 tickets. That made Michelle Chong's odds of winning 1 in 9 million
I am no math major but Chong's odds are not 1 in 9 million.
i like the senator comment.. you made me laugh!
forgive my ignorance, but is this a multi-state type lottery thing?? And if I buy a Lotto ticket in California,does that count towards this same lottery?
I just quit my job. On the way to Walmart right now.
Carrie, it is multi-state, and I think over 40 states are involved. Not sure about California.
First thing I'd do if I won (after sharing with my family and donating to worthy charities)? See if I can hire Metallica to play at my birthday party :-)
Carrie, its in 42 states. It has to say "Mega Million". And it is available in California,
http://www.megamillions.com/
Just for @!$%#s and giggles, i'll buy a majority share of a MSM news channel and make them report the truth for a change!
So you have a greater chance of getting hit by lightning then of winning the jackpot. With the way my luck runs, I'll will the $640 million dollar jackpot and then get hit by lightning on the way to claim my winnings...lol.
just buy every combination of numbers and double your money.
(Provided there is not multiple winning tickets)
I'd buy me a color t.v. and a four slice toaster...and a twenty dollar whore.
With the rest, I could probably get almost completely out of debt.
lol....was just saying the same thing!!! I always tell people, if you want a good stock to short.....wait till i buy it!!! loll
Remember, buying more than one ticket, you are betting the rest will lose. If you think you are going to be lucky, one is plenty.
1 in 175 million chance? How do they figure that?
5 numbers, 56 possibilities each and the Mega number with 46 possibilities...
56x56x56x56x56x46=25,333,661,696
That's one in over 25 Billion. Of course, that ain't stoppin' me from buying a few quick picks!!
Mikey Mike- That equation is not how the probability works.
With your equation you're accounting for the number being able to come out 1-1-1-1-1 and 1-1-2-3-3 and so on.
once one ball is picked it cannot be picked again
your math would be correct if there were 5 hoppers with 56 balls each. it is one hopper with 56 balls.
@MikeyMike...
2 sets of numbers [ 1-56, pick 5][1-46, pick 1]
Start with the pick 5 set... 56 x 55 {since you've removed 1} x 54 x 53 x 52=458377920 / the ways in which the 5 numbers can be picked so... 458377920 / (5x4x3x2x1) = 3,819,816
So, your odds at this point in getting the 5 numbers right are 1 in 3,819,816 - not a bad chance at winning $250k prize level.
Then pick 1 of the 46 and multiply that times the above number = 175,711,536
There is only 1 set of winning numbers so your odds are 1 in 175,711,536.
Good luck to all! :-)
And to think our politicians could piss that away in mere seconds.... Isn't that about what they gave away to Solyndra?
Troy, I just finished fabricating a competition style bbq smoker trailer based on a 288 gal propane tank, for the city of Brisbane today.
I'll give you a great deal on one if I can be your friend after you hit the 640 millskie's, bu-uddie!
Uncanny that you said that........Life's a trip, eh? good luck to all!
i would buy an elevator for my 25 yr old car
If I win I'm going to take the lum sum, pay my takes, give each person in the US a million each (with the provision they invest it) and sitll have 80 million left over. Hopefully someone else will do the same!
How would you give everyone in the US a million? The $462 million would be enough to give everyone in the US about $1.54
haha just having some fun....
Flower, I think that is great but you may want to check your math. You will have about 80 million left over if you give everyone a dollar not a million dollars.
You could give 340 people a million dollars. I volunteer to be one of them!
The US population is 313 million. 640 MILLION minus 313 million equals 327 million.
She COULD give everyone a million dollars - and still have more than half left.
sunide - really?
Flower could give each American $1 and then have some left over but not a million.
Sunide! You're subtracting the US population from the number of dollars! You're giving everyone one dollar -- not one million. One million dollars X 313 million people = $313,000,000,000,000, or in other words, 313 bajillion dollars.
If Flower is a Republican politician, she can always borrow the shortfall from Communist China and blame the deficit on whoever wins the next lottery.
sunide - You would need $313,000,000,000,000 (that's trillion by the way) to give 313 million people a million each.
OK I think I'd buy Flower and Sunide some math lessons as my first gesture.
If you were driving 80mph, how far would you go in one hour??
If you are driving 80 miles per hour, how long will it take you to drive 80 miles?
If I win, I am going to buy flower and sunide a calculator then buy myself some of those $6 old navy t-shirts. Like a whole sh$t load of them.
the logical answer would be 80 miles but you'll p robably tell me we have been dring in circles and end up the same place we started se we went nowhere
hi, my name is billy.. i pooped my diaper when i was 13
DarwinG: even if you did drive in circles, you still traveled the 80 miles. You just don't end up 80 miles from your starting point.
If I won, my parents' retirement would be secure, my sibling's children would have secure college, and I could follow at least two dreams of my own. Plus I'd buy a nice new closet of clothes.
Ok so it was a stab and the math problems above, anyways best of luck to all - and the number one tip when winning a large sum of money like this - SHUT UP! Tell no one if at all possible. Then get a lawyer, setup a blind trust, and a few weeks later (hopefully once some hype has died down) make your claim, or actually have you lawyer do it for you - taking the lump sum. Then hire an investment adviser and enjoy life from there on! Also sign and make a copy of the ticket and then mail it to yourself in a certified letter that you don't open but rather stash in a safety deposit box or other safe location - do that right away too.
Again best of luck to all!
hey commonsense ....... not on this vine ! lets keep it light hearted and politic free ..............
i bought 3 tickets ! i have been feeling very good and lucky .. lets see :)
If I actually won this, I would definetly want to give several good freinds about 2 million each, give my dad at least 3 million, invest in certain stocks and money market funds,but that log home with 10 acres in Oregon or Montana, donate at least a million to animal shelters and for helping kids charities. And a 1958 Edsel convertible! :) And a vintage runabout boat from the 50's with cadillac fins! :) That about does it! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!
It is time... can you still do that? I thought I heard somewhere that they'd changed the rules and YOU, not your attorney, now have to claim the prize. But I may have heard wrong.
Or she could do what a democrat does.....give it away to rich bankers, and tax the regular folks so the bankers could keep their bonuses for doing a lousy job!
Hey stoopid: like I said in my first post, if you ended in the same place in essence you didn't go anywhere. Yes, the answer is 80 miles if you drove 80 mph for an hour, congrats on your 3rd grade math skills!!!
cj - you might be right not sure at the moment, need to read the fine print on the rules again. Nothing like making a person have to blab to the world the information when they just won a large sum of money, go government - yes I understand it is to prove that the game isn't rigged and someone really wins but still. Hopefully the state of the winner still lets the blind trust option work.
@ Sinide
Better buy a calculator first. Then, buy a math tutor. Nice thought anyways.
If I win, I will keep 10%, divide another 10% for my family and friends. And then give the rest away to street people. Homeless people, people with no food, people who need it the most.
I am assuming that the 1:175,000,000 chance of winning is based on the amount of number combinations? If you had $175,000,000 and the system let you buy tickets online, and in massive quantities, couldn't you buy every combination with the 175M on a debit card? Especially if they were "virtual" tickets? You would have an excellent return on investment hoping of course that you wouldn't have to split with 2 or 3 more folks.
@ It is time
You said "...Tell no one if at all possible. Then get a lawyer..."
Better get another lawyer to watch the first one, then another one to watch him, and the accountants who are watching each other as well...and try to keep all of them from knowing each other exist! Could get complicated.
If you want to know what God thinks about money, just look at the people He gives it to. lol
@Steve, yup but the time it takes to process entering all the required combinations would take years. Otherwise I'm sure Buffett or someone would have done it by now. Heck, Greece could buy itself out of national debt.
And don't forget your return would be even greater than just the jackpot prize. If you have EVERY conceivable combination you would be winning 4,405,086 different prizes.
There are so many people and organizations who could benefit for years and years to come from that kind of money. If I was blessed enough to win some or all of that money...I would give the majority of it to programs and organizations for the benefit of many people.
I would pay off the bills and gift our family members and friends generously. I would absolutely make sure that my disabled daughter and my son had enough money for their education and their needs as they grow up. I would expect them to work too...Work teaches more than money could ever buy.
The rest of the money would go toward various charities like St. Judes Children's hospital; Wounded Warrior Project; Paralyzed Vetrans of America. I would start a few charities as well and, find several non-profit 501 (c) 3 organizations throughout the US. Non-profits like domestic violence shelters, programs for the disabled & the elderly. There would be so many people that could benefit for years and years to come.
I would also love to randomly gift people...the old lady down the street needs a new roof on her home. The young family next door needs a car. People standing in line who cannot afford their medications.
As for my own selfishness...I would purchase a modest home and make it handicapped accessible. I would have a ramp so my kids would not have to get my scooter in and out of the house. I would purchase an electric wheel chair. I would make sure that my 60 year old mom could stop working. She and I and my children live together now...we would continue but, everyone would have their own room. I would put enough money away for the taxes and insurance and repairs for the future. It would have matching furniture and pretty curtains.
I would like to do a few things extra but, the only real thing that I would love to do is to go to Scotland and take my mom and kids on a cruise. Oh, to be able to make so many dreams come true. I would give anything to look my mom in the eyes as we pull up to a home and I could tell her it was ours and she no longer had to work. I would love to be able to tell my children that we no longer had to go without or to the pawn shop to get a few groceries/gas. What wonderful dreams!!!
Yeah LA, I didn't even count all those. That would actually add up as well. I guess I will stick to my $10 and keep my fingers crossed.
Maybe if I win, I could buy Greece!
I would stay away from Greece :)
I heard Greece just bought their own ticket, but they had to borrow money from Germany to do it.
borowitzreport . com
Why would you want to buy a county full of people who just want your money?
I'd say buy a Greek style food joint and park it right next door to your home by the beach and have them serve it to you while you sunbathe' by the pool with your dog and "So called New Friends" Greek Style.
The odds of what you say you'd do are pretty high, and their odds of having someone give them money is even higher.
Good luck to everyone. If you don't have your line in the water you're never going to catch a fish. So, the same is true that if you don't buy a ticket you're never going to win.
I already have the winning ticket people...I can just feel it! You will see me on every news station in the country next week, accepting my winnings....YAHOO : )
LOL!! They would LOVE getting that money! :) Or you can somehow fix the economy here for a short while! haha!
Flower:You better redo your math....a million each....unfortunately there are more than 640 people in the US. Wow, there should be a YouTube watching you do that math....
Way more entertaining then the girl doing 80 MPH
If Flower wasn't mathematically challenged, he/she wouldn't be playing in the first place.
Something a lot of you seem to be forgetting is that the IRS gets 25% right off the TOP! And, depending on how you MANAGE the money they could take a lot more!
In California there is no State Income Tax on it!
Flower,
I think you should use the money to go back to school and take a basic math course.
You could give everyone in the US ONE dollar and you would have 80 million left. Last I checked, there was roughly 350 million people in the US. If you gave each one $10.00 you would not have enough money. 10 x 350,000,000 = 3,500,000,000 (That's 3.5 BILLION dollars!)
700 million here we come!! and it's gonnna be mine and yours cuz when i win I am donating a lot of it =D
Many people will be very happy happy if they get $10.000 out of this and it can change their lives,so why don't we do this just to be differand, haha.
I could make so many lives so much better with that kind of money... ah well, tis a nice dream.
they will just waste it. spend it all on yourself.
I don't want the money, seriously I'd live comfortable and use the rest of the money to help people.
I just hope a rich person doesn't win this! They already made their millions! Just sayin!
I'm using the money to take KatGirl somewhere nice and romantic.... Fiji, Paris?
Oh lala :) I hear the Caribbean is nice this time of year :)
If I win it, I don't have to pay state taxes in Texas so I get to keep more of it. I'll live here in TX for a couple of years then I'll disappear ...
Hell, put in a trust fund and then transfer it to the cayman's and goodbye.And, live off the intrest.
Tex, Probably like Madeline Murry O"Hare did.
Like Abraham Shakespeare.
I'd run away from Texas too.
If I win I'm going to give every person in America $1.54 each. Are you guys excited or what? Just kidding....
I'll pay off everything. I'll give a bunch away and retire in comfort at the ripe old age of 48. Can you imagine how fun it would be to give away bunches of money to people that really need it? How many disabled vets could you make a difference for and still have a pile to live comfortably on? Its staggering when you think about it.
Instead of giving us each a buck fifty, you could buy us each a ticket for the next huge lottery.
If each winner did that, before you know it we'd be a nation of multizillionairs!!
Ah, but then we'd have to be republicans, so forget it.
You are right Nevada... There aren't rich liberals because you don't get rich using the liberal way of thinking haha. no seriously though the only rich liberals get their money from being crooks
I like the idea about giving it to the Vets... I would build a place where they could get all the medical attention FOR FREE!!! The possiblities are endless.. I would also build a FREE daycare facility for children and teen youth centers.. Just something i have always wanted to do... OH yeah and i would leave Miami too..
IF WE COULD PLAY HERE IN FLORIDA :((
Hey NevadaJ-577866, after winning the lottery if the winner gave everyone a buck, they themselves would be broke (except in this case where the payout is so massive that there would be some money left over). But based on an average lottery win, your plan would not perpetuate "multizillionairs"... it would simply pass the money from one person to the next (that is if someone actually won with a ticket that you "donated" to them)
why not give everyone in the entire world $.14, just to be fair?
Why don't you all just say what you really think. I'm not giving anyone a F%$# Dime!
i would break the cycle. I'd buy a bag of skittles with my 1.54.
Just don't put on a hoodie on your way home.
A vacant lot down the street from me just sold for 1.5 Billion so even when I win I'll be well short. At least I'd have a down payment if I could get financing for the rest.
Sorry to rain on your parade fellow suckers but I'm not going to win and neither are any of you.
Lotteries are a way of distracting you from your falling wages and longer working hours (if you can find a job), your foreclosed home or underwater mortgage and the sky rocketing cost of your healthcare and kids college tuition.
They encourage selfishness and at the same time they make you feel you might be rich at any moment so you identify with the rich and don't go after them by raising their taxes etc.
The rich and powerful are probably laughing their asses off seeing all the long lines of "peasants" queuing up at liquor stores (how appropriate) etc.
Of course the rich don't buy any tickets themselves. They get money the old-fashioned way: They con you out of yours. They create mortgaged backed securities or sub-prime loans, or "Miracle Water" (TV preachers),or they scare you into voting huge sums of money for "security" companies, arms manufacturers, etc. etc.
If you really want to better your life and that of your children join the Occupy Movement (or some other like that) or go out on strike for higher wages etc etc. Raise a ruckus and don't give the bastards (Democrat or Republican) a moments rest and you will get a bigger share of the pie.
That's the lesson of history.
Interesting they just revised the jackpot back down to 500 Million
and now it's back up to 640 million, seem like the site or the web master maybe having some glitches
He can't focus thinking about all that money.
Well... I got my tickets... Now I can live in blissful luxury in the comfort of my own imagination for another few hours...until the disappointment sets in...
Maybe I'll go get mauled by that Polar Bear and Regular Bear at the same time instead...
I think that's the true fun of playing the lotto. I bought my first and (probably only ticket) last tuesday and it's just fun to think about the possibility of winning. If that is all my dollar affords me than it was well spent. I might not even look at the numbers tonight just to let the dream last a bit longer. :D
you are just lucky you didn't die in an accident on the way to the store because your odds are better that happening than winning. so in a sense, you already won something ebeneezer
You are such a joy killer, crawl back under your rock.
I though it costed $2?
costed????
Powerball costs $2.
It only costeded $2 if you play the multiplyer. That means all prizes, except the grand prize, pay double. If not, then it's $1 costeds
Dat's da same way I seent it.
Either way, that's a lot of money to spents it all.
If I won I'm sure that all of a sudden I'd have more cousins, aunts, uncles and other relations than I ever knew existed ...
That said, family, faith, friendship ... equally divided.
And your friend, TFNJ.
But what a hell of a family reunion party! The small price of a ticket is the hours of entertainment of a wonderful dream whether fulfilled or not. I'm glad most participating would be donating part of it.
One person can not use all that money...this is just dumb and obscene and that's why other countries hate us. There are millions of children on this planet who don't have food to eat and are dying and then you see this...disgusting!
So KJLNY,
It appears that you haven't purchased any of these tickets. There are several people who have MORE money than this.
So you are saying I shouldn't play the lottery because there are unfortunate people in the world?
You'd be surprised at how much money some people can go through. Plenty of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years of winning. And it seems to me a philanthropist can accomplish a lot more when he or she is a multimillionaire.
KJLNY, Then I would be one MF'N disgusting dude. After taking the cash option and the taxes I'll end up with $230 million. Then after my divorce about $115 million and disgust my @ss off.
2 other countries just had huge lottery winners in the news recently as well. We're NOT the only country with lotteries!!!!!! JEEZ
KJLNY....
Do you look in the mirror every morning and berate the person you see for being an American?? Just asking of course.
the lottery also helps the state pay for schools and the like. It's like an optional tax. i have no problem letting others help reduce my property tax to make a few stinking rich. also, they may buy products from local shops in their community with their filthy money. how dare they
Get a life. People are having fun dreaming. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! I'd help those starving people and then some. I'd buy everyone I know (and then some) new clothes, cars, name it - it is yours. Then I'd buy a tropical island. Oh my oh my! I know, I know, I could afford health insurance for myself - oh oh oh dare I dream!
If I win, I'm going to attempt to get Stargate Universe back on the air for a final, conclusive, season.
I'm gonna buy New Jersey with the money.
Hell, jersey not even worth the dollar price of a lotto ticket. Waste of space is what jersey is.
But I'm gonna fix it.
NJ is one of the best places to live. There is more diversity there than almost any other state. Plus, the educational system is one of the best in the country.
I would lease a corporate jet and fly to a private resort on an island somewhere and that's where my 'team' and I would lay this all out, regarding the taxes, estate planning, charitable trusts, etc. I would then know my exact bottom line when this 'tropical meeting' was over and would buy me a nice foothills mountain ranch in Colorado with a couple 1000 acres, surrounded by a state of the art security perimeter. A private helicopter and plane would be necessary as well, as I would get all my required pilot ratings because I would be flying everywhere I go. I'd also have to have a nice Sea Ray yacht moored to my dock at my property in the Bahamas.
If I win, I'm gonna buy a pack of gum.
BULLITIN : I just won it,,, I found out,,, so everybody else can relax, I've got your money,, and i'm outta here !!!
I suppose with that much money, you can afford to misspell words. Bulletin is not spelt bullitin as far as Im consernt. Ur spelling is the right one, Sir. Do you care to tip me?
Seriously, I hear all possible combinations of numbers are already sold. That means someone is holding the winning ticket. At least one. Could be one of us...
I'm going to guess more than one. I definitely think this will be a multi-winner lottery pick.
Really? Every combination sold? Where did you hear that?
I seriously don't think that's likely:
56*55*54*53*52*46 = 21,085,384,320
That's just a touch over 21 Billion combinations. Many people are confused over the "1 chance in 176 Million" phrase often repeated. That isn't the chance of picking all six, a perfect ticket. That's the chance of winning SOMETHING.
But, having said that, I wish you the best of luck and assure you that I won't be competing with you.
Someone could theoretically buy up all the combinations and win, if they had the millions to spend up front to do so. There are problems with this though. If it takes 5 seconds to fill out a card, it would take 28 years to fill them all out. The other problem is there is not enough lottery paper or ink to print enough tickets to buy them all. Then add in the fact that more people are playing and the higher chance of multiple winners, the pot is split so you probably wouldn't even cover your initial investment.
I hope someone who will do good things with the money wins. Regardless, people will spend it and stimulate their local economy and at the least increase the taxes going to their local and state government.
Nevada, glad you are not playing, and your numbers are way off. Refer to this site for the proper combinations.
http://www.molottery.com/mega_millions/understanding_chances.jsp
It would cost me $175 million to buy every ticket possible.
Nevada - your formula is for permutations where the order matters. In Lotto you would need to calculate the combinations only which is 56!/(5!*51!) * 46 which comes out to the approximate 1:176 million odds that you hear mentioned
Thank you Charlie.
Normally I would leave that alone, but she is so busy degrading everyone else for playing a lottery, that she deserves to be ridiculed.
56! * 46 / ((56 - 5)! * 5!) = 175,711,536
Oh my!!!! Gubmint sponsered Gambling. Wow, how cool. Now all the people with no money will have less. Oh wow, how totally cool. Idiots spending money on Gubmint gambling Oh wow
One of the "idiots" will be almost a billionaire tomorrow. Sucks to be you.
The Lottery: A tax on the Mathematically Challenged
Being that you were so off on your "incredibly" smart calculations, I won't take advice from you.
The inability for some folks to multiply six numbers and read the result is why lottos exist in the first place.
And, no one's trying to give you advise, TFNJ. Years ago, when I first began here at the Nevada Gaming Commission as a junior statistician, I did dispense advise. However, it didn't take long to learn that people prefer not having their bubble burst and have no interest whatsoever in the mathematics behind gaming.
Which is how they keep building all these over the top huge casinos out here. So, embrace any numbers you wish and at least accept my wish of outragously great luck tonight.
And after you hit the big one, come on out for a visit; we could always use another hotel on the strip.
I take it you didn't get much passed that junior position. Sorry, not trying to be mean, but you really need to get off that negative horse and realize people have their own ways to keep hope. Someone will buy a winning ticket in this lottery, whether your junior statistician tell you so or not.
It seems you live in a miserable world, but not everyone does hon. Just my advice to you.
My last effort at educating:
Mega Millions WOULD LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE your odds of winning are 175,000,000:1... folks that is not the case. Mega Millions uses a failed logic to compute their odds, when really, the odds are much, much worse.
MM: select 5 balls from a pool of 56, and 1 ball from a pool of 46.
Their logic:
5 balls out of 56 x 4 balls out of 55 x 3 balls out of 54 x 2 balls out of 53 x 1 ball out of 52 x 1 ball out of 46.
The problem with their logic? Lets look at the first draw, logically. 5 balls out of 56. Problem is, your not selecting 5 balls, your selecting 1 ball out of 56. 4 balls out of 55? Try 1 ball out of 55... and so on, and so on.
True Logic:
Ball One - 1 ball out of 56 (there are 56 balls in the pool any 1 can be selected)
Ball two - out of 55 (55 balls in the pool any ONE can be selected)
Ball three - out of 54 (54 balls in the pool ANY ONE can be selected)
ball four - out of 53 (53 balls in the pool ANY ONE CAN BE selected)
ball five - out of 52 (52 balls in the pool ANY ONE CAN BE SELECTED)
ball six - out of 46 (again a separate pool)
56x55x54x53x52x46 = appx 21 billion:1.
Explaination:
Say the first ball that is draw is say, 56... 56 is removed from the pool, leaving 55 balls. Say then 12 is selected and removed, leaving 54. Then 8, down to 53. Then 31, down to 52 and lastly 50 with a mega ball of 41.
What MM wants you to believe is not the odds of the balls, but the odds of your number (singular, not all 6) coming up. The odds of the balls are obviously what dictates the odds of winning the lottery.
As uncomfortable as it may be for some of you to accept, this is how we've made a living here in Nevada for a long time.
You poke fun; we get rich.
the heck with your fanncy math. There are 176 million combinations. buy 1 ticket your chance of winning is 1 out of 176 million. you are giving the odds of picking the numbers in exact order and that is not how it is done.
Oh just go with what the E-trade baby said in the ad "you have better chances of being mauled by a polar bear and anoter kind of bear on the same day."
I just want these mother%$%& snakes off the mother%$^$ plane!
Joe, you are wrong. Nevada is absolutely correct. Check with a math professor or a statistical person, such as an actuary if you don't believe us. Nevada's method is NOT picking them in the exact order but in random order, as its supposed to be.
P.S. If I win, I am going to buy a life-time supply of erasers, so I can get rid of all my mistakes. lol
The other Joe is right. (Along with the MM guys). Do the math for picking the numbers IN ORDER and you will see that it matches what Nevada described. He is getting confused with the 5 chances on the ball 1, it is not that they pick 5 balls there, it is that at that point your ticket has 5 numbers that can match that first ball.
Nevada is not correct, because the the order doesn't matter. Yes, there are 21 billion combinations of numbers, however many of those combinations are the same numbers just in a different order. 1,2,3,4,5,6 is the same numbers as 6,5,4,3,2,1 & many other combinations. A winning ticket only has to have the right numbers, not the right order.
I apologize guys. I now see that I made the same mistake as Nevada did. I recalculated and came up with about 175 million + to 1 for the odds on the big prize. Nevada and myself left out the divisor of 5x4x3x2x1x1=120 If you divide 21 billion by 120, you get about the 175+million amount.
It's over half a billion dollars, I think $1 is worth it if even just for s**** and giggles. The only math people care about is "Personal Banking + ($640 million - Taxes) = New Bank Balance".
I think it is hilarious that someone can figure out the odds for picking out the Megamillions in the exact order but lack the ability to understand that 21 billion:1 odds would result in few winners EVER.
There are 7 billion people in the world for god's sake!
Since I wreaked 2 cars in 1 day does that increase my odds or not really since I'm (very thankfully) still alive?
nevada, good thing your job wasn't proofreading
Keep buy tickets, folks, and thank you so much for contributing to my early retirement!
Why is it that somehow imagining what we'd do with all this money is so entertaining? It makes the work day go by so much faster daydreaming about all the ways to spend that money.
Gonna place my bet same as the next guy. How many times in life can you wager a single worthless note for one US dollar and get the chance of winning over a half-billion (slightly less worthless) US dollars? The guy who has no chance is the guy who has no ticket!
Read the story of Louise White and the Rainbow Sherbert Trust. $3 is all it took to win a big jackpot.
where can i buy a ticket online
chrisobrien086 illinoislottery.com allows you to buy tickets online...but I think that their site is getting hammered with traffic. Good luck if you can get in.