There is no shame in admitting that you have at least once in your life took a change and bought a lottery ticket, hoping to win that big jackpot prize. The winning tickets for Wednesday night's big draw were bought in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Texas and there is a very good chance you are not one of the winners.
Two dollars might seem like a steep price to pay for a ticket with a slim change of actually winning, but with the possibility of winning $564million, more and more people are hoping to beat the odds and convince themselves that the cost of a ticket is more like an investment.
And who doesn't want to earn $564million back in exchange for just 2 dollars in the bank?
"It's only when it gets to those big numbers and starts to get headlines that you have a rush of money coming in," says senior writer Michael Santoli of Yahoo finance.
It makes sense that when there is no jackpot winner for that particular draw, the money is then added up to the new jackpot amount. Each time you take a chance buying a ticket, though it seems like throwing away hard earned cash, it also means you are a step closer to winning the new jackpot than you were before.
With a 1 in 175 million chance of winning the $564million prize, it seems you're more likely to win a date with an Oscar winning star or a hot super model.
The fact is - there is a high possibility that there could be more than one winner, meaning the prize must be divided to all winning ticket holders.
At the end of the day, one thing stands out - though it's good to dream, it is also good to be have a realistic expectation, after all lottery is still a game of chance as much as it is a game of numbers.
For those who want to earn back their dollar or two on investments, Professors Aaron Abrams and Skip Garibaldi from the Emory University advise to avoid the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery and try the smaller lottery chains if you expect a more positive rate of return.
