Powerball Realities

You Can't Win If You Don't Play.......

Yes, that's true. Let's review some other "You can't....if You Don't......" sayings:

1. "You Can't Win If You Don't Enter" (Still waiting for the balloons & GIGANTIC Check!)
2. "You Can't Sit If You Want to be Fit" (True! I'm glad I found that saying sitting in my recliner!)
3. "(If) You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't say ANYTHING AT ALL"
4. "You Can't Complain If You Don't Vote" (Just think - If we had a $1 National Complaint Jar, We'd turn that deficit around in no time!)
5. "You Can't Make Your Bed If You're a Tyrannosaurus Rex"(Ok, that's kinda off track, but pretty funny - trying picturing it)

So, today, POWERBALL is BIG! POWERBALL MANIA is out of control. (Really? I have to wait in line to pay cash for gas at Bin's Gas Station, Convenience Store, & Dry Cleaners?)

Well, it IS true - "You Can't Win If You Don't Play." So what chances do you have to win? Well, you have better odds in the following:

• Birthing identical quadruplets - Odds: 13,000,000 to 1
• Becoming an astronaut - Odds: 12,100,000 to 1
• Becoming a movie star - Odds: 1,505,000 to 1
• Getting a royal flush in a first hand of poker - Odds: 649,740 to 1
• Finding a four leaf clover - Odds: 10,000 to 1

One more thing is TRUE - THE ODDS DON'T CHANGE! YOU DON'T HAVE A BETTER CHANCE IF MORE OR LESS PEOPLE BUY TICKETS, OR WHATEVER THE JACKPOT IS!
I heard this said on TV this morning, "You'd think the odds would be better to win at a low jackpot since less people are buying tickets..." OMG! That type of thinking is the same as looking for a cold slot - it's bound to hit. WOW Gambling sure brings out the "smarts" out in people.

Here's the facts:

• There is a 1 in 175,223,510 chance of winning the jackpot, according to the website of the Multi-State Lottery Association.
• There's a 1 in 31.85 chance that a ticket holder could win something, including the smallest prize of $4.
• The pot is technically $320 million, but has a cash value after taxes of $193.8 million, according to the association.

Though sizable, tonight's pot pales in comparison with last year's $588 million Powerball jackpot.So, hey why bother. Afterall, most of us aren't even interested if the jackpot is only 8 digits!

So, it's true - You Can't Win If You Don't Play. Have fun with it, although, you're likelier to die getting struck by lightning than winning the Powerball jackpot: 1 in 134,906.

That's all for now. I have to rush down to Lotto Mart to buy "a" ticket.

Binbin