Megamillions should sue CNN

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_subgenius
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Re: Megamillions should sue CNN

Post by _subgenius »

DoubtingThomas wrote:
Res Ipsa wrote: They referred to the odds of you dying in an asteroid strike. Full stop.


But you have a better chance of winning the jackpot.

Only if you play the jackpot, the asteroid strike does not have an opt-out.
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_DoubtingThomas
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Re: Megamillions should sue CNN

Post by _DoubtingThomas »

Res Ipsa wrote:
What the hell is wrong with you? We just went over the numbers.


So let's do a fair comparison. If you want to talk about annual odds then lets discuss the odds of winning the jackpot if you buy at least one ticket every week. As for daily odds, today you have a much better chance of winning the jackpot than you have of dying from an asteroid strike. You can't compare the odds for today with annual odds. It is very unfair. The problem is the CNN didn't clarify. And the asteroid strike estimates are very unreliable.
_honorentheos
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Re: Megamillions should sue CNN

Post by _honorentheos »

If a person sat around fantasizing about what they'd do if they were hit by a meteorite or made it a topic of conversation, we'd think the person was suffering from some form of psychological pathology.

CNN pointing out that ideations around winning the lottery aren't much different is probably an unnecessary point to make for most of us but also probably serves as a good point of reference for some who may not realize the couple of bucks they spend on a ticket is basically buying them a fantasy and little else.

The odds are so low a person will win the jackpot in a major national lottery it's almost a certainty one could say no one on this board will do so. It's also almost certain no one on this board will die from a meteor strike.

Outside of that, what's the point of this that it has gone on to two pages now? Megamillons lost out on sales because CNN injected a dose of reality in their reporting on the billion dollar jackpot but the exact order of magnitude of the odds is in question? I think they still did ok selling small pieces of paper and a fantasy at $2 a pop.
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_honorentheos
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Re: Megamillions should sue CNN

Post by _honorentheos »

DoubtingThomas wrote:As for daily odds, today you have a much better chance of winning the jackpot than you have of dying from an asteroid strike.

Megamillions doesn't draw on Saturdays. OTOH, the Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend. Just sayin'.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth?
~ Eiji Yoshikawa
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