5 Things More Likely to Happen To You Than Winning the Powerball Jackpot

So you’re after Wednesday’s $1.4 billion Powerball lottery prize. Here’s some news that you already know… the odds are stacked against you.

According to the New Jersey Lottery, the odds of winning Wednesday’s jackpot by matching all five balls in any order as well as the red Powerball are one in 292,201,338 per $2 ticket.

That’s less than 1 in 292 million per ticket, stiff odds for even the most devoted optimist.

• See related article: Powerball Jackpot At $1.3 Billion - But There’s One $165 Million Winner

Seeking to put these odds in context, Patch compiled five events more likely to happen than winning the next Powerball lottery jackpot:

Be Killed At Work - The rate of fatal work injuries for U.S. workers in 2014 was 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Flip A Coin Heads Up 28 Times In A Row - The chances of picking the right combination of numbers is like flipping a coin and getting heads 28 times in a row, Jeffrey Miecznikowski, an associate professor of biostatistics at the University at Buffalo in New York told USA Today.

Bowl A Perfect Game – Mathematicians estimate that the odds of a non-professional bowling a perfect game are about 11,500 to one.

Being Hit By Lightning – According to the National Weather Service, you have a 1 in 12,000 chance of being hit by lightning sometime in your life.

Be Legally Executed – The National Safety Council estimates that your odds of being legally executed are 1 in 127,717.

OTHER PRIZES

As New Jersey Powerball lottery players gear up for Wednesday’s $1.3 billion jackpot prize, smaller winners have emerged throughout the state.

• See related article: 29 Winning Powerball Tickets Sold In N.J.
• See related article: Winning Powerball Ticket Sold In N.J. In Hoboken Area

Aside from winning the jackpot prize, Powerball players can also win a variety of smaller prizes that range from $1 million to $4.

A player’s odds of winning one of these smaller prizes can be as high as 1 to 25 per $2 play, according to the NJ Lottery website.

File photo via flickr commons