ODDs of winning big ball are 1 in 62, butPrev TopicNext Topic

• Guest

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  Apr 16, 2002, 12:53 pm

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  The odds of winning 0 + 1 are listed as being 1 in 62.
  Why is it not 1 in 36?
• CASH Only

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  June 5, 2002
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  Apr 16, 2002, 12:55 pm

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  because you can match 1+1, 2+1, etc
• Guest

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  Apr 16, 2002, 1:00 pm

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  to be a little clearer, the odds of getting any one BMB is 1 in 32.
  
  However, you are picking 5 White Balls -- so, if you were to pick 1-2-3-4-5, then if any of those numbers come up you will no longer have 0 white balls and the one BMB.
  
• RJOh

  

  100

  mid-Ohio
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  Apr 16, 2002, 1:43 pm

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  Of the 76,275,360 possible combinations there are 1,221,759 combinations that have the bonus ball but none of the other 5 winning numbers, thus the odds of l,221,759 divided by 76,275,360 which equals 1/62. Since there is only one combinations that have all five numbers and the bonus ball it's odds is 1 divided by 76,275,360.
  
  RJOh

   * you don't need to buy every combination, just the winning ones * 

         
  
• dnassoc

  

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  Apr 29, 2002, 5:32 pm

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  Who says there are 76,275,360 combinations possible? If the first ball can be anyone of 50, and the next anyone of the 49 remaining, etc. then there are 50*49*48*47*46 posibble combinations for the first 5 balls times 36 possibilities for the big money ball, for a total of 9,153,043,200 possibile combinations.
  
  The odds of winning the jackpot are therefore 1 in 9,153,043,200
• CASH Only

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  Apr 29, 2002, 6:48 pm

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  Your odds of 9+ BILLION :1 would be correct if the order of matching the first five numbers mattered. However, the first five numbers can be matched in ANY ORDER, as you are not asked to pick them in the proper sequence (there are 120 ways the first five numbers can be drawn; it does NOT matter how they come out.) Only with the BIG MONEY BALL does draw order matter.