{"659773":{"#nid":"659773","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mega Millions: The Odds Aren\u2019t Ever in Your Favor","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWant to be a millionaire? What about a \u003Cstrong\u003Ebillionaire\u003C\/strong\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYou have the chance when the Mega Millions lottery numbers are drawn tonight, July 29.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe problem: Chances are you aren\u0026rsquo;t going to win. But we understand that, right?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELew Lefton, Georgia Tech mathematician, crunches big calculations for a living.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith five white balls out of a drum containing 70 balls, and one red ball drawn from a drum with 25 red balls, Lefton says there are an astronomical 302,575,350 possible winning combinations. You\u0026rsquo;ll have to pick the right one to win big.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso astronomical is the payout. Many would be over the moon with a $1 million payout, but $1 billion? Consider this for perspective: 1 million seconds is about 11 days; 1 billion seconds is about 31 years!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile you can\u0026rsquo;t do anything to improve your odds of winning, you can decrease the likelihood of having to share that jackpot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Play numbers higher than 31,\u0026rdquo; Lefton says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany people play birthday numbers, so choosing higher, less popular numbers means you\u0026rsquo;re less likely to have to split the winnings.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, people statistically choose odd numbers more often. So, choosing high, even numbers may be your best bet, according to Lefton.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u0026rsquo;s even more astronomical? The size of the U.S. economy is $23 trillion. Georgia Tech economist Tibor Besedes says a billion-dollar jackpot is a drop in the bucket.\u0026nbsp; \u0026ldquo;About 0.004% of the economy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the winner will likely spend their payout on a variety of items, lottery jackpots have little ripple effect on the economy as a whole.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have the impact on the level of a business investing $1 billion in the state of Georgia on a new production facility.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnless this jackpot winner has just that kind of investment in mind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech experts explain the lottery likelihoods"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith five white balls out of a drum containing 70 balls, and one red ball drawn from a drum with 25 red balls, Lew Lefton says there are an astronomical 302,575,350 possible winning combinations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech experts explain the lottery likelihoods"}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2022-07-29 19:30:00","changed_gmt":"2022-08-01 15:52:23","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"659777":{"id":"659777","type":"image","title":"Mega Millions: The Odds Aren\u2019t Ever in Your Favor","body":null,"created":"1659123240","gmt_created":"2022-07-29 19:34:00","changed":"1659123279","gmt_changed":"2022-07-29 19:34:39","alt":"lottery ticket ","file":{"fid":"250066","name":"mega2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mega2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mega2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":48429,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mega2.jpg?itok=3T0Hn_3T"}}},"media_ids":["659777"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"2107","name":"Expert"},{"id":"256","name":"math"},{"id":"190986","name":"statstics"},{"id":"169090","name":"lottery"},{"id":"190987","name":"mega millions"},{"id":"3929","name":"analysis"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector, Media Relations \u0026amp; Social Media\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}