We all know the odds are virtually nil. We all know that the State keeps such a huge percentage of the ticket sales, that it would actually be illegal for the House to do the same in a Las Vegas casino (Nevada is one of the few States where Powerball is not sold).
You may have even heard that in October, the participant States decided to change the Powerball odds from an astronomically high 1 in 175 million, to an unthinkable 1 in 292 million. Ironically, this change was made to INCREASE ticket sales by creating higher jackpots... are you feeling like a sucker yet?
If all that was not enough; The State lotteries are run by an Italian conglomerate; which screams "honest"... seriously, most US State lotteries, including the Powerball are run by an Italian company called Lottomatica. What could possibly go wrong?
Despite all these pesky "facts" that would lead any reasonable person to conclude that the Powerball is a suckers bet at best, you probably ran out to buy a ticket last week for the 900 million USD jackpot, and are running out again for the 1.3 billion USD jackpot this week. Heck, even I did! After all, as the commercials go; "you can't win if you don't play!"
It is worth remembering, however, that although these jackpots have caused America to lose its collective s@#t... it is merely chump change for captains of world industry. Feel like a Serf yet? I guess Brian Griffin had it right!
Here is how many record-breaking winning Powerball tickets you would have to get to equal the wealth of the worlds richest people:
Bill Gates........................................133
Carlos Slim Helu............................128
Warren Buffett................................120
Larry Ellison....................................90
Charles & David Koch....................143
Christy, Jim & Alice Walton...........198
Jeff Bezos (Amazon).......................76
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)..........60
Larry & Sergey (Google).................100
Before you jump to any conclusions on the numbers, perhaps thinking this might be another Powerball Meme-gate. Here is how the math was done. The Powerball is currently 1.3 billion. If you take the lump sum amount, as any sane person would do with the recent spat of States issuing IOU's to lottery winners, your prize is reduced by 38 percent. A further 25 percent is AUTOMATICALLY withheld for taxes for all winners who are US Citizens. Wink, Wink, if you win, be sure and apply for citizenship to any country for which you may be eligible! State taxes, which vary, would also be withheld...
This brings the grand total take-home for a $1.3 billion jackpot to approximately $599 million.
That brings me to... wait, what time is it...crap! I have to run and get a few more tickets before the grocery closes... Lady luck has to be on my side... this time!
