I don't really have a whole lot to say about the so-far meager sales of Mega Millions lottery tickets. Maybe it'll eventually be a hit, maybe it won't overcannibalize sales of Texas Lotto, and maybe it'll sink like a mastodon into the La Brea tar pits because people have grown tired of financing government on the backs of the gullible and the gambling addicts. One never knows. I just want to put the following into perspective, for those who didn't like math in high school:
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in about 135 million.
We got into MegaMillions? When did that start? I mean, I remember hearing that they went ahead and decided to join, but I didn't even know we had started selling them.
Credit "No advertising", is my thought.
Of course, I admit to paying two bucks a week to "apply to the Texas lottery". Admittedly, a lot of people want the job...but the pay is great. :)
In my defense, I often joke that my odds aren't appreciably worse when I forget to buy a ticket.
They started selling them just this week. I knew it was coming, too, but hadn't heard anything since the initial announcement, so don't feel too bad about it sneaking up on you.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on December 4, 2003 2:08 PM135,000,000 - 1 is still better than my being voted either the next Pope or "People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive", so I've spent a buck or two on this game.
Posted by: William Hughes on December 4, 2003 6:01 PMMr. Hughes has the perfect attitude towards this, I'm thinking.
Posted by: Linkmeister on December 4, 2003 11:58 PMOf course, your chances of being hit by lightning are about 1 in 93,000, or about 1500 times more likely than winning the MegaMillions lottery.
Posted by: Diogenes on December 5, 2003 2:52 PM