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.
