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You're not going to win Mega Millions jackpot
“Never tell me the odds.”
- Han Solo in "The Empire Strikes Back"
Look. We know that you're aware the odds of winning Friday night’s record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, or any Mega Millions jackpot, are astronomical.
We also know that for the people who win it, the odds matter not one bit. Someone is going to win at least a share of the prize - if not Friday, then in some subsequent drawing. But since we’re covering the historic jackpot and showing people in long lines giddily talking about how many cars or yachts or Dippin' Dots they’d buy if they win, we feel compelled to remind you:
It’s not going to be you.
The odds of a ticket winning a Mega Millions jackpot is 175,711,536 to 1. As Han Solo’s talkative robotic friend would tell you, you have a much, much better chance (1 in 3,720!) of navigating an asteroid field successfully. We didn’t exactly vet that, but you know you’d smash your ship into the rocks. And who are we to question protocol droids fluent in more than 6 million forms of communication?
To hammer home the point, here are a few other unlikely scenarios that, we’re sorry to say, are far more likely than you taking home a jackpot.
From the Harvard School of Public Health:
- Chances of dying from a bee sting: 1 in 6.1 million. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
- Chance you will be die from being struck by lightning: 1 in 3 million. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
From the University of Maryland Medical Center:
- Chance of having conjoined twins: 1 in 200,000. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
From U.S. Hole in One, which insures golf prizes for holes in one:
- The chance of an amateur golfer making a hole in one on a par-3 hole is about 1 in 12,500. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
- The chance of a golfer hitting a hole in one on consecutive par-3 holes: 1 in about 156 million. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
From a 2011 State Farm study on collisions between vehicles and deer:
- The chance of hitting a deer with a vehicle in Hawaii, the state where State Farm says deer-vehicle collisions are least likely, is 1 in 6,267. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
From the National Weather Service:
- The chance of being struck by lightning over an 80-year lifetime: 1 in 10,000. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
From the Florida Museum of Natural History, based on U.S. beach injury statistics in 2000:
- Chance of drowning and other beach-related fatalites: 1 in 2 million. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
- Chance of being attacked by a shark: 1 in 11.5 million. Chance you will win the Mega Millions jackpot: 1 in 175.7 million.
What are the odds you will win? Weigh in below, or on Twitter using #whataretheodds.
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@cnnbrk on Twitter
The reality of the situation is someone WILL win it. Why not me?
Wrong. I buy one ticket. My chances of winning are 50/50. One I win; two I lose. Any knucklehead knows this.
@Nukel Head
I like the way you think 🙂
It's a dollar or two that I was gonna waste somewhere. It's called "Discretionary Spending". Your argument is better levied against those who have effectively no discretionary spending. Most people who should never spend a dime on anything more than basic survival needs and means to get out of that position, won't be hanging around CNN to get that message.
I simply get a kick out of those in this thread, running their mouths, about you got to buy a ticket to win. Then the same ones run thier mouths in this public place about how thier going to spend thier (somebody elses) winnings. 😉
learn how to spell, you moron
Must suck when your life is so rotten, you have lost the ability to dream.
Chances someone not playing the lotto will win
0 in 175.7 million
My chances of winning on one of my 26 tickets
1 in 45.75 Million
I like my odds better
Your odds are still 1 in 175.7 million, you just have 26 tickets with the same odds, each at 1 in 175.7 million
"so your saying theres a chance"
Heh.
I figure if the powers that be want me to be rich, I have to give them the opportunity. So I buy one lottery ticket a month. I can afford that.! in 25 years of doing this, I won $40 once and $2 once.
as for the yahoo that thinks Paris Hilton (why did he mention her ?) can just but all the tickets and win, I have a math problem for him..How do you buy 175 million tickets ? If you could get one a second, it would take you more than 5 1/2 years to get them all. And then you would have to check them all to find the winner..
At this rate, the prize will be at $100 Billion by Christmas.
Then, it may make sense to buy all combinations for about $176 million. Unless of course, more than 568 people strike the number, then you still lose.
odds are great. but someone has got to win it! why not me? why not you?
TYPO:
Then the same ones run thier mouths in this public place about how they're going to spend thier (somebody elses) winnings.
Not good, when you show you can't spell correctly the first time, but when you blow it again, give up bud, you simply proved the obvious....
the odds of winning a prize is 1:40. After the person (or persons) wins the jackpot tonite, go interview them and ask if they thought it was worth buying some tix. Everyone knows the odds are high, but many real ppl have beaten them before
You know, even with the odds stacked against me it's still fun to dream. And until those numbers actually come out declaring me a loser, there's still that little beacon of hope that maybe- just maybe I might finally be able to afford a worldwide vacation...... and one of those golden toilets I saw online 😛
...and so that's why my dollar stays in my pocket. May you all be luckier than me! 🙂
Its funny all the idiots fantasizing about winning the lotto face it birdbrains YOU NOT WINNING THE LOTTO so get up and go get a damn job and work ya lazy bums!
gonna tell the winner (or winners) tonite to get a job and that they werent gonna win to? lol
Stupid comment.
With your diction and spelling, I'd bet that you need to follow your own advice.
Never tell me the odds.