Here's How You Can Justify Buying A Powerball Lottery Ticket

You might think that ponying up $2 for Saturday’s record-breaking Powerball lottery is a useless exercise.

After all, the odds of winning the now $800-million jackpot are at least 1 in 292 million .

It is more likely that you will become president of the United States, according to one statistician .

But The Washington Post explains that gamblers call a bet a “positive-expectation play” if paying the money it would require to beat the odds would still turn a profit for the better.

At $2 a ticket, it would cost you $584 million to beat the odds, which still leaves you with $216 million in winnings.

Of course, you should probably not actually go out and buy all those tickets, because after the high taxes you will have to pay on the winnings, it might not be a net moneymaker. There is also a decent chance you will have to share the loot.

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