{"594866":{"#nid":"594866","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Here\u0027s Why You Won\u0027t Win Powerball ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELottery officials have announced the Powerball jackpot has reached its second highest figure in history \u0026ndash; $700 million, to be exact.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce again, jackpot dreamers are flocking to convenience stores and supermarkets in search of their golden ticket.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech mathematician who calculates probability for a living has this message:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;You are not going to win the lottery.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELew Lefton, a faculty member in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Mathematics and associate dean for Information Technology in the College of Sciences, says it\u0026#39;s not your fault. The fault lies in the numbers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter considering the Powerball system of drawing five white balls out of a drum with 69 balls and one red ball out of a drum with 26 red balls, Lefton calculated more than 292,201,338 possible winning combinations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo explain your odds, Lefton says if iPhone 7s were laid end to end around Interstate 285 in Atlanta, there would be about 745,000 phones in total.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf only one of those iPhones were blue and you were asked to pick it out, your chances of succeeding would be 400 times more likely than winning tonight\u0026#39;s jackpot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;You should play anyway,\u0026quot; Lefton says. \u0026quot;Two dollars is a great price for a dream.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is a bit of a silver lining despite having no way to improve your odds.\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\u003EIt improves your chances of winning the jackpot and not having to share it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany people play birthday numbers, so choosing higher, less-popular numbers decreases the chances of sharing the pot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, people statistically choose odd numbers more often. Choosing high, even numbers is your best bet, according to Lefton.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech mathematician says even though you won\u0027t win, you could improve your chances of winning alone by the numbers you pick. "}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lew Lefton explains why it\u0027s not your fault you won\u0027t win the lottery and there\u0027s really nothing you can do about it. "}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2017-08-23 19:52:08","changed_gmt":"2017-08-23 20:00:20","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"485381":{"id":"485381","type":"image","title":"Your Chances of Winning the Powerball Jackpot","body":null,"created":"1452898800","gmt_created":"2016-01-15 23:00:00","changed":"1475895089","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:29","alt":"Your Chances of Winning the Powerball Jackpot","file":{"fid":"203988","name":"istock_000021149055_medium.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/istock_000021149055_medium_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/istock_000021149055_medium_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1654033,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/istock_000021149055_medium_0.jpg?itok=2jWFf0hA"}}},"media_ids":["485381"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"169091","name":"powerball"},{"id":"169090","name":"lottery"},{"id":"256","name":"math"},{"id":"7962","name":"mathematician"},{"id":"175288","name":"odd"},{"id":"7256","name":"probability"},{"id":"43351","name":"drawing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Social Media\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}