The biggest lottery jackpot in US history could reach nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars this weekend, as New Yorkers flocked to ticket sellers in hopes of scoring the impossible prize.
When the Powerball draw happens at 10:59 p.m. Saturday, a player with one $2 ticket has a 1-in-292.2 million chance of nailing all six numbers — and winning at least a share of the jackpot estimated at $700 million as of Thursday.
Those astronomical odds against winning almost make these unlikely events seem possible:
- There’s a 1-in-20 million chance of dying from a dog bite.
- There’s a 1-in-3 million chance of seeing a UFO.
- There’s a 1-in-23,483 chance of being accidentally declared dead by the Social Security Administration.
- There’s a 1-in-107 million chance of having an IQ of 190 or more.
- There’s a 1-in-729,000 chance of giving birth to quadruplets without the use of fertility treatments.
- There’s a 1-in-164,869 chance of being killed by a lightning strike.
- There’s a 1-in-1,113 chance of drowning.
- And then there’s a 1-in-183 million chance of being fatally struck by lightning while drowning.
The long odds don’t intimidate Jay Coronado, 64, who won a $10,000 Mega Millions prize three years ago.
“I even told my mom to play $20 in Florida to increase our chances of winning,” Coronado said while scoring tickets at Gateway Newstand on Park Avenue. “Anything to get rich and retire.”
Paralegal Charmaine Nieves, 51, said her boss has dubbed her the office good-luck charm.
“I bought the ticket on behalf of my boss because he thinks I have a lucky streak,” said Nieves amid a ticket run.
No one has hit the twice-weekly Powerball in more than two months.
So when Powerball’s $500 million prize went unclaimed Wednesday, it put Saturday’s game on target to topple the current US lottery record — a $656 Mega Millions jackpot in 2012.