"Humans are not naturally equipped to understand such big numbers," Wasserstein added. What if you had pennies and placed 302,575,350 in stacks as tall as the Empire State Building? It'd be more than 1,000 Empire State Building-tall penny stacks. Stand on the corner of a football field and start laying out dollar bills until you've placed 302,575,350 of them: That'll take up about 585 football fields, he said. Understanding a 1 in 302,575,350 chance of something is tough, Wasserstein said. We have a winner! Powerball reports winning ticket, sold in Maryland, for $730M jackpot – the fifth largest in US lottery history But really, how low are my odds of winning Mega Millions? What’s just about nearly as certain is that it won’t be you!" Wasserstein wrote in an email to USA TODAY. Sooner or later, someone will win that jackpot. "People confuse their chances of winning with the chances of someone winning. Wasserstein, executive director of the American Statistical Association. lottery jackpot ever.īut just because there was a winning ticket Wednesday, don't get your hopes up that you are going to win on Friday, said Ronald L. The jackpot reached $731.1 million, making it the fifth-largest U.S. This is what we live for," Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica told USA TODAY on Thursday.Īdding to the excitement for Medenica: A winning ticket for Wednesday's Powerball was sold in the small town of Lonaconing, Maryland, at Coney Market. lottery history, if claimed at its amount now. Those are the odds of winning the $970 million prize that is up for grabs in Friday's Mega Millions drawing.ĭuring months of buildup and the longest stretch in the game's history without a jackpot winner, millions in smaller prizes were won as the jackpot crept up.
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