## Just The Facts
> * 1. The odds of winning a Mega Millions Jackpot are 175,000,000 to one.
* 2. The odds, as an American Male, of being Tom Cruise are only 150,000,000 to one.
* 3. You are more likely to call heads twice, roll a six and then be struck by lightning than win a regular 6/49 lottery.
Via jwz [1], “Lottery | Cracked.com [2]”
That (and the rest of the article [3]) is pretty much why I don't play the lottery.
I also don't gamble. I learned the “if, at a poker table, you can't spot the sucker, it's you” lesson the hard way back in college (nothing like losing an entire paycheck in a “friendly” game).
(As a digression—growing up, I preferred Mad [4] over Cracked [5], which I found to be a weak imitation of Mad. But these days, the Cracked website is lightyears better than the Mad website.)
For some reason, John Hawthorne thinks this post is pro-lottery [6]. I want to make it clear it's not [7].
[1] http://jwz.livejournal.com/1088621.html
[2] http://www.cracked.com/funny-2134-lottery/
[3] http://www.cracked.com/funny-2134-