UW Expert: Shark Attack More Likely than Mega Millions Win

Friday, July 29th, 2022 -- 8:00 AM

(Bob Hague, WRN) -The Mega Millions jackpot now exceeds one billion dollars. A UW Madison expert breaks down your chances of hitting it big.

Professor Laura Albert says monster jackpots often end up getting split among multiple ticket holders. “Yep, quite often because there's just many, many more ticket sold.”

Your chances of winning Friday night’s drawing outright? Roughly one in one-hundred and three million. “You're way more likely to be struck by lightning, attacked by a bear, attacked by a shark. Pretty much all the rare animal attacks will be more likely than winning this lottery.”

Professor Albert says the chance of winning it all are about one in one-hundred and three million, and buying multiple tickets doesn’t improve those odds much. “You still have an infinitesimally small chance of winning the lottery if you buy 20 dollars-worth of tickets versus if you buy a single ticket, so the average person won't know that that's noticeable. It's kind of up to the individual if it's more entertaining.”

Albert notes that monster jackpots often end up getting split among multiple ticket holders.

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