The Real Lottery Winners: A Number of Myths About the MegaMillions and Powerball Lotteries

Lotteries are one of the largest industries in America. The little slips of paper they sell generate an estimated $45 billion annually. In comparison, Microsoft had gross sales of just over $44 billion in 2006. With about half of all American adults playing various state-run lotteries across the nation, it's easy to see that there are big bucks in those little numbers. But behind every smiling face and billboard-sized check lie a number of myths and misperceptions about the lottery.

Myth 1: The more people play, the lower your odds in winning.
This is false. The odds in winning are fixed. Your odds in winning the MegaMillions Lottery jackpot are 1 in 135,145,920. The odds for winning the Powerball Lottery jackpot are 1 in 120, 526,770. While the odds are fixed, the more people who play a lottery does decrease your chances in become the sole winner of a lottery jackpot.

Myth 2: Buying two lottery tickets doubles your chances of winning.
Once again, this is false. If you buy one lottery ticket in the Powerball lottery, your chance of winning is 1 in 120,526,770. If you buy two tickets, your odds are 2 in 120,526,770. You have not doubled your chance at winning the lottery; you've just decreased the odds against you by an infinitesimal amount.

Myth 3: Lotteries are a great way to help education.
Tying lotteries into education was one of the greatest masterstrokes of marketing in history. In terms of return on investment, buying lottery tickets is an abysmal way to raise money for schools. Consider the case of the New Mexico educational lottery. Out of the 89.2 million dollars raised by the New Mexico lottery, less than half ($40.8 million) went to education.

If you're spending a buck on a lottery ticket with the thought of benefiting education, you're better off just giving 50 cents to your local school. It costs half as much as the lottery ticket, and the school gets more money.