Sunday, January 26, 2020

HOW TO WIN THE POWERBALL LOTTERY





Easy: Pick the five correct numbers and the Powerball.  You don't play you can't win.  


The odds are only 292 million to one.   The first five numbers are drawn from numbers one through sixty-nine-nine, and the power ball from numbers one through twenty-six.


The odds of winning with the first five picks for one million dollars is one-in = eleven million, two hundred thirty-eight thousand, five hundred and thirteen: 1 in 11,238,513.


 The odds of actually winning the Powerball jackpot is one-in = two hundred ninety two million, two hundred and one thousand, three hundred and thirty eight: 1 in 292,201,338.










The idea that one combination of numbers is better than another is BS.   You could pick numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and have the same odds as any other combination of numbers. 


However, if you pick a well-known group of numbers like the Fibonacci sequence, and it wins, you would probably have to split the winnings with more players.  
   


My wife and I spend about two dollars on lottery tickets once a week.   We have no expectation of winning, but it is that minute possibility that is enticing. 


I have the same chance of being struck by lightning 365 times as winning the Powerball. 
 

I have actually had two close lightning calls; but I don’t plan to stand out in thunder storms hoping for another 263.   Nor do I plan to win the lottery.  


But, against the odds, for two dollars, I will buy a ticket.

the Ol’Buzzard









4 comments:

  1. My Rare One and I blow $5 a week on one lottery ticket too, because as she says "you can't win if you don't have a ticket." We have big plans for our Super Max Lottery win, BIG PLANS! lol

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  2. David buys power ball tickets once a month but he loves the scratch off tickets. He buys his smaller tickets and scratch offs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings on his way to work and we usually win anywhere from $2 to $300 a week. It's nice to win but it would be nicer to win the bigger stuff so he could retire in comfort.

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  3. In my world $2 for a lottery ticket is a cheap dream plus that is the only way I can afford one of those nice houses down on Key West!
    As to the better chance of getting struck by lightening... I met a lady who won a lottery, not the big one, just $150k after taxes but I've never met anyone who was struck by lightening...

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  4. Better odds than prayer actually curing your stage 4 cancer.

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COMMENT: Ben Franklin said, "I imagine a man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false."