When a jackpot lottery prize reaches hundreds of millions of dollars — or even a billion or more — a feverish buzz sweeps the nation. People are buying more tickets than ever before, hoping to hit the big one. But as eye-popping as a jackpot prize may seem, winning it is a matter of luck and a little bit of math. Lottery formulas and tax collectors have a say in what the winner actually gets to keep.
As the jackpot grows, so do the odds that someone will win. But a winning ticket must match all of the numbers on the drawing, so it’s unlikely that just anyone will buy all those tickets, let alone be the lucky person to hit them all. It’s a little like flipping a coin. You’re 300 times more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to win the Mega Millions jackpot, but you keep on flipping those coins.
The odds are so much better than they used to be that a lot of people believe we’re all going to be rich someday, if we play enough games. That has helped drive a boom in state and national lotteries, which now have a combined total of more than $1 trillion in prizes.
Most lottery winners choose a lump sum payout, which gives them access to the full prize amount right away. It also makes sense if the winner doesn’t have heirs who would want annuity payments over 30 years. The fact that interest rates are higher means that the lump sum prize will grow larger, too.
There are a few tricks to playing the lottery that can improve your chances of hitting it big. For example, many experts recommend splitting your numbers between high and low numbers. This will increase your chance of hitting at least one number and increase your chances of hitting a bonus ball. Another tip is to avoid playing all even or all odd numbers, as only 3% of the winning numbers have been all even or all odd.
When the numbers are drawn, you can check results immediately with the app, or set up notifications to be alerted when jackpots reach a certain size. The app also offers all of your favorite local state lottery games.
A new generation of lottery players are using digital tools to stay up-to-date on the latest news, results and winnings, all from the palm of their hand. Jackpocket, the official lottery mobile application of USA TODAY, is available for Apple and Android devices in 11 U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. It’s free to download and use, but some state gaming laws require players to be at least 21 years old. See the app’s terms of use for more information.
