Didn’t win big last night? That’s probably to be expected, considering that the odds of your ticket being chosen was one in 292.2 million. As the New York Times pointed out, that’s similar to putting the names of every resident of the U.S. in a hat and picking President Obama on your first try.
But if you’re still thirsting for crazy stuff to bet on, go right ahead. Here’s a list of some improbable possibilities to entertain you while you wait for the next massive Powerball jackpot to amass:
- You have a one in 1 million chance of dying while playing a board game. Not bad!
- And speaking of ridiculous deaths, your chances of being crushed by a rogue vending machine are one in 112 million. Seems do-able.
- That supervolcano under Yellowstone that you’ve been terrified will erupt ever since you saw the Discovery special on it? The odds of it blowing are a whopping one in 730,000. Better start prepping your underground bunker, or whatever it is you do to hide from spewing lava.
- If you’ve always had “Win a Gold Medal at the Olympics” on your bucket list, go ahead and start training. Your odds of winning are one in 23.4 million. Go for the luge and it’s probably down to like 1 in 50!
- Got a newly-pregnant friend? You might as well wager your house on identical quadruplets for her. The odds are one in 15 million.
- If you love bowling, go ahead and try for that 300 score. The odds of getting it are one in 11,500 (and you get to make a bunch of Lebowski jokes all night).
- And here’s the most encouraging news yet. If you’re an author, the odds of writing a New York Times bestseller are one in 220. Which is probably more fulfilling than winning the lottery anyway.
Maybe you’re already looking ahead to March and its ensuing basketball madness. Unfortunately, there’s bad news: If you’ve been waiting for that year when your bracket will turn out flawless, you’re probably going to have to keep waiting. Even with educated guesses, your odds are even worse than winning the Powerball jackpot — one in 128 billion.
