Letter: Fresno math instructor explains Powerball odds
In my class, I explained the odds of winning the latest Powerball lottery with the following example:
Imagine you were to walk from Fresno to New York one step (foot) at a time. Suppose there are 19 separate/different paths which to take. Buried beneath one of these steps on one of these paths is the lottery treasure.
Now imagine there are 19 of us. We all decide to take a different path. The shocking revelation is when we each take our very first step, 18 out of 19 have been eliminated from the competition, with no chance of winning.
For the one remaining fortunate participant who chose the correct path, she now has to choose from the remaining approximately 15,390,000 steps, of which, one is the winner.
That represents the chances of you winning the lottery, which also assumes you play 19 times. Good luck with that. In fact, for the pot to reach this point, it means about 2 billion people have tried and failed.
Bill Allen, Fresno
This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Letter: Fresno math instructor explains Powerball odds."