Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries will host drawings this week for an estimated $1.135 billion in combined grand prizes. While prospective overnight multi-millionaires try their luck, others know they have a greater chance of becoming president than hitting the jackpot.
Phil Wong, a property manager from South Pasadena, says his biggest cashout from a lottery ticket was $183. He bought a Powerball ticket earlier this week.
“[I will] stop here because we’re going to win it,” Wong said.
Powerball currently holds an estimated jackpot of $485 million. According to the California Lottery website, the cash amount after taxes would reach about $232 million, under half of the estimated jackpot. Mega Millions is holding a grand prize estimate of about $650 million, which is valued at over $308 million in estimated cash.
According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, the odds of matching all five numbers and the golden number for a Powerball ticket are 1 in 292 million. The odds of winning any prize (at least four dollars) are one in 25.
It is marginally harder to win the jackpot prize for Mega Millions, as the odds of winning are one in 302 million.
Here are some more likely circumstances than winning the grand prize, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
- Hitting a hole-in-one in golf as a professional golfer, with odds at 1 in 2500.
- Winning an Olympic gold medal, with odds at 1 in 662,000.
- Becoming president of the United States, with odds at 1 in 32.6 million.
Some Los Angeles residents like Ramiro Caldera have little faith in the lottery. He last bought a ticket 15 years ago, joking with his friend that they were going to win big, but now doesn’t play.
“When people are trying to survive, I think it’s [more] important to use our money to help a homeless person,” Caldera said.
Isaiah Alwin, a sophomore studying journalism at USC, said he enjoys occasional scratch-offs and sports betting but isn’t buying a ticket due to the extraordinarily low odds.
“I think a lot of people have a very unhealthy relationship with gambling, whether it’s scratch-offs, playing the lottery, or sports gambling, which is getting really popular,” Alwin said. “I think everything in moderation can be fun. But when you’re like relying on gambling to sustain your life, then it’s not good.”
Alwin had success with scratch-offs and described his personal experience in gambling as mostly positive, but he said gambling generally has negative consequences for the general public.
Billboards across the country boast the jackpot sums in glowing letters. Freeways, gas station windows, and even online banners beckon Americans looking to get lucky. Caldera says these advertisements catch his eye, but couldn’t convince him to buy one.
Millions of other Americans think otherwise as people scramble to score their lucky numbers.
Powerball and Mega Millions follow a similar model for prize redemption. Both corporations’ lottery tickets are priced at $2 each.
For Powerball, a buyer selects five numbers between one and 69 and a Power Number between one and 26. Ticket buyers are also allowed to use the Powerball Quick Pick, which generates random number selections on the ticket.
Mega Millions allows players to select the first five numbers between one and 70 and a gold ball number between one and 25. Mega Millions also allows for quick, generated number selections. If all numbers match from the ticket to the draw, that ticket wins.
Powerball will continue to draw numbers three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mega Millions hosts draws every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET.
The Powerball lottery has gone 27 straight weeks without a grand prize ticket being sold. The last jackpot winner of Mega Millions cashed $394 million in Encino on Dec. 8.