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If you think the odds of hitting a jackpot on a slot machine in Las Vegas are a longshot, you might want to skip buying a lottery ticket this week.<\/p>\n
The Mega Millions jackpot has crossed the $1 billion line after the lottery once again failed to find a winner Friday night<\/a>. The jackpot now stands at $1.1 billion<\/a>, with an estimated cash option of $525.8 million. The Powerball lottery, meanwhile, currently stands at a not-too-shabby $800 million.<\/p>\n Sweet right? Problem is, the chances of winning are well beyond long.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go back to that jackpot victory on the one-armed bandit in Vegas. On the tightest slot machine in Vegas, the chances of winning the top prize are about one in 34 million<\/a>. The odds of winning Mega Millions are nearly nine times higher than that.<\/p>\n Lottery officials say the chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. With the Powerball, the odds of taking the grand prize are 1 in 292,201,338.<\/p>\n Numbers that big are impossible to wrap your brain around, though. So let\u2019s put that into a bit of context.<\/p>\n The 1980 U.S. Men\u2019s hockey team victory over the U.S.S.R \u2013 the \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d \u2013 only had odds of 1,000 to one.<\/p>\n Your odds of being struck by lightning<\/a> this year are 1 in 1.5 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got a one in 1,600,000 chance of dying from a local meteorite<\/a>, asteroid, or comet impact, according to a 2014 paper by Tulane University earth sciences professor Stephen A. Nelson.<\/p>\n The odds of being killed by a shark<\/a> are 1 in 3,748,067.<\/p>\n The chances of you dying in a Grand Canyon flash flood stand at 1 in 14,270,000, according to The Book of Odds.<\/p>\n Even if you really show up the oddsmakers and make three consecutive holes in one<\/a> the next time you hit the links, it still won\u2019t put you close to your chances of winning Powerball. Your chances of a phenomenally successful day on the greens currently stand at \u2018just\u2019 156,250,000 to 1.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s not end this on a down note. Last year, a high school freshman managed to sink three hole in ones<\/a> in a single day. So miracles do happen. They\u2019re just exceedingly rare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the CFO Daily newsletter to keep up with the trends, issues, and executives shaping corporate finance. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n