Technology & Innovation — August 28, 2009

Could You Win Tonight’s $333 Million Jackpot?

The jackpot drawing for tonight’s Mega Millions multi-state lottery is a whopping $333 million, the second largest prize in North American lottery history. The ticket is $1. Should you buy in?

The jackpot has been increasing since July 7, when a New York City Transit worker won $133 million. This morning, it rose yet again– from $325 to $333 million– because of wildly strong ticket sales, said a New York Lottery spokesperson.

Lawrence Delevingne of BusinessInsider.com says don’t bother buying a ticket! With a single ticket, your odds of winning are about 175 million to 1. Plus, says Delevingne, “Taxes will take half of whatever you win. So if you only buy one ticket and you’re the only winner, you’ll get net winnings of about $163 million. You would need to get more than $175 million to justify taking 175-million-to-1 odds.” The question remains: is a dream worth a dollar?

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with

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