The Mega Millions jackpot drawing for Jan. 15 has actually skyrocketed to US$ 750 million and counting. This makes it the second biggest pot in Mega Millions history-- gone beyond just by the $1.537 billion winning ticket in October 2018-- and the 5th biggest lotto jackpot ever in the U.S

. In the middle of the 20th century, when lotteries initially began in the U.S., they were offered to states a benefit to the American public. That suggests that bigger and larger prizes must imply more tax dollars to spend on public services like education.

However that isn't occurring. So what's truly going on?

Huge money, tiny odds

First, let's look at how lottery jackpots get so huge. Because Sept. 15, 2020, week after week, nobody has drawn the winning numbers and the unclaimed pot rolls over into the following week. As the tickets keep getting purchased, the pot gets bigger.

You too have the possibility to win the one of the greatest Mega Millions prizes ever with the basic purchase of a $2 ticket. However, your opportunities are pretty slim. With a 1 in 300 million possibility of picking the coordinating numbers, you are 3 times most likely to be eliminated by a vending device.

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A simpler method to truly wrap your head around these chances is to envision a tub overruning with white rice. Take one grain of rice, paint it gold and after that bury it someplace in the tub of rice. Now, have somebody walk in the restroom door, blindfold them and have them try, in one lucky dip, to pick out that single golden grain of rice.

According to a 2016 poll, about half of Americans play the lotto today, compared to nearly 70% in the 1980s. That indicates the lottery game needs to draw out more money from less individuals-- a stressing trend for lottery game runners.

Mega Millions chose to reduce everyone's possibilities of winning, in order to grow the prizes larger. Before 2017, gamers chose 5 numbers between 1 and 75 and after that one number in between 1 and 15. Now, each player picks 5 numbers in between 1 and 70 and after that one number in between 1 and 25. This increases your opportunities of matching five numbers and getting some sort of prize, while reducing your chances of winning the whole shebang. What's more, the price of a ticket has actually doubled.

Apparently, as the prize grows, more people are willing to buy a ticket. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017 and 2018, the typical American invested just under $70 a month on the lottery game or betting pools. And because just about half of the nation plays, the typical amount invested per player is greater.

Where the money goes

Mega Millions profits are split in between 47 lottery game jurisdictions-- 45 states, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In general, 27 states earmark some or all lottery game profits for education. In D.C., the lotto dollars go to a general fund; in Colorado, the funds approach environmental management; and in Kansas, some of the money pays for juvenile detention centers.

The lottery game was promoted as a method to develop more money for education-- but a lot of state legislatures haven't been using the money as extra financing. Instead, they use the lottery money to pay for the education budget, spending the cash that would have been used on education if there wasn't a lottery game budget plan on other things. As a result, public schools seldom get a budget boost.

An April 2018 study from the North Carolina Center for Public law Research showed that lots of states-- consisting of California, Florida and Michigan-- just replace lottery profits for normal appropriations. As of 2016, North Carolina dedicated a smaller sized part of its overall budget plan to education than it did ts911 before beginning the lottery.

With states like New York getting a record $10 billion in sales from the lottery in 2019, that is a quite darn big bait and switch.

This doesn't always mean that it's time to ax the lotto. However it does ask the question: Is lottery money a good idea for a state? It does fund some government services, however it isn't always clear what. And the damage of betting dependency should be taken into consideration in some way.

In the meantime, I'm off to buy a ticket for this Mega Millions prize. I indicate, someone's got ta win ... This is an upgraded version of a post originally released on Oct. 20, 2018.