Anyone Wanna Win $450,000,000, . . . OR $700,000,000, . . . OR $1.5BILLION ???

Tonight [6 January 2016] at approximately 10:59PM EST the Powerball Drawing may award someone with an estimated Grand Prize Jackpot of $450-million, . . . or a cash option of $275.4-million, before taxes.

"The odds are one in 292.2-million, which means you're really, really, really unlikely to win." But considering the Grand Prize amount a ticket is just shy of being an even proposition.

"For some comparison, your chance of being struck by lightning in a year is about one in 960,000."
This suggests another excellent reason to participate in the lottery; the combined odds of winning the the Grand Prize and being struck by lightening would be well over 250-billion-to-1, . . . and there's only a little over 7-billion people on the planet. So if one wins the Powerball, one is almost certain not to be struck by lightning.

Ref: ABC news

DonDiego is absolutely gonna play !
And if he wins his plan is to spend it all on gewgaws, trinkets, baubles, gimcracks, and doodads, . . . right after replacing his 2000 Subaru Impreza Sport, . . . pr'bly with something like a Duesenberg Model J Phaeton.



DonDiego's needs are few.


EDITED TO ADD

Oops! In planning his strategy for purchasing tickets poor old DonDiego realized that a ticket costs $2, so it's not an even proposition.

Don't forget your $275.4 million will be reduced by 35% - 45% depending upon "progressiveness" of your domicile state. That leaves DonDiego with a paltry $151m - $179m. The jackpot will need to nearly double before it becomes "worthwhile".

Jackpot has been raised to 500 million. If you buy 4 tickets your odds massively improve to 1 in 79 million

In 1986, an old customer of mine retired from his Columbus, OH job. He was about 65 years old, and quickly became bored with retirement. He returned to the same job, now only working three days a week. Shortly after his return, he won the lottery. It wasn't super big, and it was split six ways if I recall correctly, but it still amounted to $19,000 per year, after taxes, for 20 years. That amounts to $41,000 annually in 2015 dollars.

Not as much as "The Big One", but it would still be a nice bump each year. He was a hell of a nice guy too. He worked for three more years after winning the lottery.

Nope, same odds per ticket......

although, a nice house and a 7 series beemer twert be too bad.

its an exercise in reducing a fraction.

4/292,000,000 = 1/73.000,000

I like PJ's math better. I think I've bought ten or so.

Well, NO WAY!
That amount of $$$$$$ would really screw up your life,FOREVER!
Don't even think about it.
Really.
10 k would be OK,but that amount.
Even if your were 20 years old..... NO!
Well,NO again.

The truth is that I could not handle the truth. NOE,no. NOE ,NOE WAY!
I would NOT like it. No way.
NO WAY!
You are nuts to think that amount would be the end of all fears.
Such foolishness should be grounds for insanity/ruin/hate/greed/excess/evil.

I didn't buy a ticket, so that tells you how much I want to win 1/2 a billion dollars.

yes I like that math as well. interesting.

good luck to all who played. I bought one ticket.