Winning the Lottery - Remember Me In Your Will
I received many emails about the last post Winning the Lottery - Before Your Very Eyes. It appears that many of you want to see what happens to your odds of winning the lottery jackpot after each number is drawn. So, I’ll start the last post over, but this time I’ll carry it through to the last number drawn.
As I pointed out in the last post, as each number is drawn, the fortunes of millions of lottery ticket holders are changing before your very eyes. Let’s look at what is happening as the drawing proceeds. I’ll continue using the Lotto Texas 6/54 lottery in this example.
The first number is drawn from a pool of 54 numbers. Now, there are only 53 numbers left in the machine. So, the second number is drawn from a pool of 53 numbers, and so on. As I already pointed out, if someone buys 1 ticket, their odds of winning the jackpot are 1:25,827,165.
Now, if the first number drawn is a number on your ticket, you’re in a whole new ballgame. Your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just improved dramatically. In order to win the jackpot, you now need to get 5 correct numbers out of 53. The odds of this happening are 1:2,869,685. That’s 9 times better than your odds were just seconds before the first number was drawn.
This is where I left off in the last post. So, what happens next? If the second number drawn is also on your ticket, your odds of winning the lottery jackpot just got better again. Now you need to get 4 correct numbers out of 52. The odds of that happening is 1:270,725. That’s 10.6 times better than your odds were before that number was drawn. Here’s a table that shows how your odds of winning the lottery jackpot change as the drawing proceeds.
Correct Numbers Drawn Odds of Winning the Lottery Jackpot
- 0 1:25,827,165
- 1 1:2,869,685
- 2 1:270,725
- 3 1:20,825
- 4 1:1,225
- 5 1:49
- 6 Remember me in your will
Can you even imagine the excitement and tension in the room when your ticket has 5 winning numbers and you’re waiting for the last ball to pop up? One chance in 49, baby!!!
