Somebody — at least statistically speaking — has to win the Mega Millions jackpot, which now stands at over one billion bucks because nobody won Tuesday night.
However, while you “have to be in it to win it,” chances are, you won’t. In fact, the odds of winning now stand at about 1 in 303 million.
So before you start filling up that bucket list with your imaginary windfall, let’s put that in perspective: You’re far, far more likely to be killed by a vending machine than to be holding that winning ticket Friday night.
According to the National Weather Service, your odds of being struck by lightning sit at 1 in 15,300.Your odds of being struck twice are 1 in about 9 million: a comparative certainty compared to winning the jackpot.
Your odds of getting killed by a shark is 1 in 264.1 million — though it’s near zero if you don’t go to the beach.
As for your odds of being killed by a vending machine, they stand at 1 in 112 million, according to Amram Shapiro‘s The Book of Odds. The book also notes you’re more apt to end up in the emergency room thanks to a pogo stick mishap than come close to winning the Mega: The odds of the former are 1 in 175,667, more than 1,700 times more likely than pulling that winning ticket.
Officially, you’ll only get access to the full $1.02 billion jackpot if you pick the yearly annuity option, which most people don’t. The “cash out” option leaves you with $602.5 million — before Uncle Sam gets a big slice of your dream.