I Didn’t Know That . . .

Q: You say the odds of winning the lottery are one in 18,009,460. What happens to the odds if I buy two tickets? If I buy 9 million?

A: The more tickets you buy, the better your chances. Consider a game where the odds are one in 10. If you buy two tickets, your odds are two in 10, or one in five. The same is true with the lottery. If you buy two tickets, your odds increase to one in 9,004,730. If you buy 9,004,730 tickets, your odds of winning are one in two. Some rich investors have apparently tried to do that in smaller lotteries, but they were still unable to beat the odds.