Rumors of a jackpot lotto winner circulated the town of Caseville which sparked one particular resident to double check his ticket at home where he realized he was, in fact, the winner the town was speaking of. The man, who chose to remain anonymous, won nearly $488,000 dollars from the Michigan Lottery.

The 48-year old man from Huron County played the Michigan Lottery’s 100X The Cash Fast Cash game at the Caseville One Stop Shop on Port Austin Road. He recalls purchasing the ticket “back in October but stuck it in a folder at home not realizing it was a big winner”. He said he was initially stunned and didn’t believe it was real but is grateful for his prize total which is the Michigan Lottery Jackpot plus an extra $250,000. The prize was claimed by the man on a Wednesday.

The man states he plans on saving it for a “rainy day” and hasn’t told his kids yet – a smart move for a father. This lucky Michigan man says the winnings are “unbelievable” and will provide him the chance to “spend more time with my family without worrying about finances so much”.

The Michigan Lottery’s Fast Cash games were introduced in July of 2017 and are terminal printed instant-win games which range in cost around $1-20. These Fast Cash games also offer instant win progressive jackpots with current jackpots printed on each ticket where players can win all or part of a jackpot. Fast Cash games can also feature popular game themes and act almost like instant scratchers.

All Fast Cash Games feed into one jackpot, tickets lost generate new funds for the jackpot while winnings take it home and the jackpot starts again. Fast Cash games do not sell out nor is there a line for purchasing. There were 11,000 Fast Cash game retailers in Michigan when they were first introduced in 2017. USA lottery ticket resources can be found here.

And speaking of the odds of winning Mega Millions, how does it compare to long-shot events happening all around the world, like becoming a billionaire or getting a hole-in-one while playing golf? Let’s find out.

Odds of winning the Mega Millions $970 million jackpot on Friday, October 19, 2018

• 1 in 350,575,350

But what if I buy 350,575,350 tickets?

• 1 in 1

Can I make a profit if I buy ALL the tickets?

Technically, yes. A single Mega Millions ticket cost $2.00, so you’d need $701,150,700 to guarantee to win the jackpot. Taking the lump-sum payment would give you $416,936,000 after the 24% federal tax, but if you take the annuity option, spreading the payments over 30 years, then after taxes you’d win a total $737,199,990 for a profit of $36,049,200. This varies depending on if your state has taxes on lottery winnings. Howe—

*Rushes out the door and calls Jeff Bezos to ask for a $701,150,700 loan*

—ver, it would only be worth doing if no one else could buy a ticket since you might have to split the winnings if someone picks the same winning number as you. It’s not every day you can win close to a billion dollars, so buy only what you can afford, and who knows, Friday may be your lucky day.

Odds of winning Mega Million prizes

• Jackpot: 1 in 350,575,350

Yeah, I know that already because you’ve mentioned it three times since I’ve been here. What about the other prizes?

• $1,000,000: 1 in 12,607,306
• $10,000: 1 in 931,001
• $500: 1 in 38,792
• $200: 1 in 14,547
• $10: 1 in 606
• $10: 1 in 693
• $4: 1 in 89
• $2: 1 in 37
• Winning any prize: 1 in 24

Alrighty, now that we have the facts, show me those odds for other things happening that you promised.

Odds of being elected President of the United States

• 1 in 32,600,000

What about becoming a billionaire?

Odds of becoming a billionaire

• 1 in 4,908,835

What about becoming Donald Trump?

Odds of becoming Donald Trump

• 0 in 0

That’s fine. I have better hair anyways.

Odds of having a child who is a genius (150 IQ or higher)

• 1 in 1,100

It’s a good thing I have amazing jeans!

Odds of getting accepted after applying to Harvard University

• 1 in 18

What about Yale?

Odds of getting accepted after applying to Yale University

• 1 in 15

Yale it is then!

Odds of becoming an astronaut

• 1 in 12,100,000

Those odds are naut half bad.

Odds of being canonized as a saint

• 1 in 20,000,000

Amen to that!

Odds of dating a supermodel

• 1 in 880,000

I wonder if she likes coffee…

Odds of finding a pearl in an oyster

• 1 in 12,000

I wonder if she likes pearls…

Odds of high school athletes going pro

• NFL: 1 in 4,233
• NBA: 1 in 11,771
• MLB: 1 in 659
• NHL: 1 in 598

I knew I should’ve taken those free ice skating lessons as a kid!

Odds of bowling a perfect 300 game

• 1 in 11,500

Not if you use the bumpers!

Odds of a golfer getting a hole-in-one

• 1 in 12,500

It’s actually 1 in FOOOORE!!!

Odds of being dealt a royal flush on the opening hand in poker

• 1 in 649,739

Read ‘em and weep, suckas!

Odds of being injured at Yellowstone National Park by a grizzly bear

• 1 in 2,700,000

But if you’re Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the odds plummet to 1 in 1.

Odds of being attacked by an unprovoked shark

• 1 in 11,500,000

I read that scientific research and in-depth analysis from years of studies showed that this number falls to 0 when people avoid going to the beach.

Odds of being struck by lighting

• 1 in 1,171,000

But can I survive after getting struck by lightning?

Odds of surviving after getting struck by lightning

• 1 out 10

I guess it doesn’t matter that “lightning never strikes twice” is a myth, since I can get struck 9 more times before my luck runs out.

Odds of being bitten by a snake in the United States

• 1 in 37,500

These people obviously didn’t have Samuel L. Jackson around, but maybe that only works while on a plane…

Odds of dying while flying in a plane

• 1 in 11,000,000

And that’s really the safest mode of transportation according to the National Safety Council?!

Odds of being killed by a vending machine

• 1 in 112,000,000

They probably had it coming to them because vending machines don’t kill people without being provoked first.

Odds of being killed by a falling coconut

• 1 in 50,700,000

That’s coconuts!

Odds of being diagnosed with the plague

• 1 in 46,600,000

Oh no, don’t tell me that’s making a comeback?

Odds of dying

• 1 in 1

Okay, OKAY! Enough with the brutality and mortality facts already! Let’s end with something positive, please!

Odds of Lloyd Christmas ending up together and lives happily ever after with Mary Swanson in “Dumb and Dumber”

• 1 in 1,000,000

So you’re telling me there’s a chance?

The WV Lottery attachment helped lawmakers sell this ambitious bill. The Lottery has a lot of pull and credibility within the state. They also have some financial power that helped this bill steamroll any opposition. A study was conducted by the consulting firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming into the effects of sports betting legalization. The aim of the study hoped to find out how sports wagering could benefit the Mountaineer State. The results of the study were positive and encouraged the state to reach out to Nevada to examine their regulations and how sportsbooks are run.

There are five casinos that could host sports betting in West Virginia. These are The Casino Club at The Greenbrier, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Mardi Gras Casino and Resort, Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort and the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. There is also a potential for mobile apps to be developed with each of these locations. These factors combine to make West Virginia an alluring prospect for sports betting in the United States.

West Virginia’s legislation has not reserved any betting options exclusive to the Lottery, but it is not crazy to assume they will jump in at some point. The WV Lottery will no doubt be benefiting off the legal sports betting in the state since they are handling regulation. Once the sports gambling system is up and running, perhaps outside residents will be able to purchase WV lottery tickets through USA Lottery gambling sites (which allow people to play in lotteries outside of their own state).

Online lottery options are a stretch at this point along with online sports betting. This is due to a law known as the Federal Wire Act that prohibits US-based sportsbooks from operating. If The New Jersey Supreme Court case is ruled in favor of New Jersey than it is plausible that the federal ban on sports gambling will be struck down. This decision would trigger West Virginia’s legislation and start the 90-day timeline to legal wagering options. Whether the lottery hosts betting options remains to be seen, but the fact that they are the ones in charge of overseeing the market is a huge step for state lotteries throughout the country.

Other states like Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Delaware and Georgia have successfully increase their lottery revenue through online platforms. Once online lottery options are officially introduced into the state, Pennsylvania hopes to join these other ambitious states. PA is expecting their online lottery platform to roll out some point in the spring of next year. The goal is to have both desktop and mobile accessibility with several game variants like daily number, instant win and national jackpot games. Residents must currently venture to one of 9,000 licensed lottery retailers if they want to play. These are brick-and-mortar establishments, so for players without means of transportation, they are missing out on the fun. Online lottery games would expand the availability to all residents with Internet access.

Governor Tom Wolf announced that the lottery will be pushing wagers on virtual sports games. These games will be available via terminals installed in local bars and other lottery destinations. There would be drawings every 5 to 10 minutes for players to win cash prizes by wagering on the outcome of simulated car races or other sport events.

It is estimated that these new online lottery offerings could generate upwards of $35 million in revenue per year. While nowhere near the total loss of income, it would certainly help curtail the effects of these fluctuations, which is what Governor Wolf intended. The online lottery games, coupled with the state’s online casino and poker venture, should help turn things around in the state. State officials are optimistic that this shift to an online platform will sit well with the younger generations. Casual bar settings provide the perfect backdrop for games, and with the state getting income from the regulations, it is a positive.

Out of the aforementioned states, Michigan has been the most successful with their lottery. Almost 700,000 residents made accounts to play more than 50 games, including lottery games in the US such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Pennsylvania wants to take their online platform a step further and implement restrictive protocols to help people from gambling too much. The plan is to have some sort of daily betting limit in place as well as a self-exclusion program.

There are also international lotteries available online to PA residents. These venues create a buffer for those looking to get involved now while Pennsylvania prepares to unveil their online platform. International lottos provide more opportunities for bettors to win big.

For Pennsylvania, the future looks bright on all aspects of online gambling. There is now online casinos and poker and soon to be online lottery and sports betting. By becoming an early adopter of digital gambling, Pennsylvania is setting itself up for success.

Online lottery options have been notoriously opposed in Massachusetts for years, however the state’s hand may be forced because of New Hampshire recently authorizing online lottery sales. Supporters of the proposed changes in Massachusetts believe that NH’s new lottery policy could cut into the commonwealth’s total lottery revenue. State Senate Candidate Claire Freda, who is running as an independent, echoed these concerns and stated that Massachusetts will lose part of its competitive edge if they do not move to the online platform soon. New Hampshire will be launching their online platform sometime early 2018, so there is time for Massachusetts to get the legislative ball rolling.

Players already have a variety of ticket options through licensed online lottery agents, however state regulated online lottery tickets would expand the range of options available. There are also international lottery games available to Massachusetts residents, with high potential payouts and easy accessibility.

Some of the aversions to Massachusetts ushering in online lotto versions are exposing material to underage users and fostering gambling debt, but these measures are easily counteracted through strict regulation and by providing helpful gambling addiction resources. One of the biggest advantages it would bring would be allowing all types of players to get in on the action, including elderly or remote residents without the means to travel to licensed lottery retailers. All of the money would go back to the state and go towards infrastructure, education, etc., so it is a win for local government if they can figure out how they want the market run.

Another State Senate Candidate, Michael Kushmerek, proposed capping the number of online lottery games people can play. If they reach the limit, they would have to buy a ticket from a physical retail location. He believes this would help create a balance between existing brick-and-mortar establishments and state regulated websites. However, enforcing something like that could be difficult and might stir opposition from residents.

In order for online Lottery to become successful in Massachusetts, there needs to be a case study examining the effects of it on the market. With sales figures down compared to last year, the local government does not have anything to lose to at least look into the matter. Well, the state could lose even more revenue when traffic migrates over to New Hampshire online products. It’s like Freda said, if Massachusetts wants to remain in the game, they should move on online lotto soon.

Becoming an instant millionaire was a lot easier two years ago, it still wasn’t anywhere near ‘easy’ but it was a lot easier than it is now. The chances that you had of winning the big payday were around 1 in 175 million back in those days. These days? 1 in approximately 292 million. So, what made the long odds even longer? A seemingly modest change to the amount of balls played is what increased the likelihood of you losing your chance at millions.

In October of 2015 the number of total balls drawn for the willing cards rose by ten from 59 to 69. This was a move by the companies who run the jackpots to increase the odds in order to provide fewer chances and report even larger jackpots than what has even been seen. They are currently on their way to breaking the record jackpot after tonight’s drawing (unless I have the winning ticket). Have the harrowing odds discouraged anyone from playing?  Apparently not based on the size of the jackpot, which can’t reach that level without lots of participation from players.

The amount of the jackpot is likely to see huge increases before the drawing, as well. This is because of a certain demographic of lottery players that have been named “jackpot chasers” according to Colorado Lottery Spokeswoman, Kelly Tabor. These ‘jackpot chasers’ are lottery players that only play the lottery when the jackpots reach record highs. She commented further about how it’s really driving up sales at this point. She estimates that if no one wins the jackpot tonight, by the time of the next drawing the amount is likely to surpass the largest jackpot ever recorded at $1.6 billion dollars. Anyone who doesn’t have time to go pick up a ticket or who isn’t within close proximity to a ticket retailer can opt to buy Powerball tickets online through a legally sanctioned online lottery agent. For those of you who have never heard of this type of service, you can read more about licensed lottery agents to see how an online ticket purchase works.

Despite the drastic odds swing in the favor of the lotto commissions, there has been a surge in smaller amount winners since the rule change to allow for more opportunities to win smaller amounts. There are more people winning amounts around $50,000 and $100,000 then there were before and that has a direct correlation to the feedback from the players according to Tabor.  Players who enjoy going after the Powerball jackpot are typically also found playing other USA lottery games available online such as Mega Millions and Hot Lotto, among others.

The amount a person practically takes home after taxes and choosing the lump sum (like most people do) is usually around half of what the actual prize is. Tonight’s actual money won in the lump sum will be somewhere around $443 million depending on your state’s taxes. Kelly Tabor left the interview with one piece of advice for all Powerball players. She said, “If you’re playing Powerball, go over to Connecticut”.

Three days is all it took for High Card Poker to be withdrawn from Lottery sales locations. This marks the latest blunder for a state Lottery run by a private operator hired to attract more profits and improve the technological quality of one of NJ’s greatest revenue sources. The private operator, Northstar New Jersey, has had difficulty fulfilling its promises and has even come under fire from local legislation for its poor performances on sales and marketing.

State Lotteries are at an all-time high with Powerball levels reaching upwards of $500 million. New Jersey paid NorthStar $275 million in fees and expenses over the course of the last 3 fiscal years. However, the Lottery profits since Northstar’s takeover have not justified the cost. New Jersey residents can buy lottery tickets online, and it is unclear if this may be impacting revenue for the state.

High Stakes Poker was created as a means to help increase revenue, and as of August 7, more than 1 million tickets hit the shelves. The $5 game had a grand prize of $150,000. Players must beat the dealer’s hand in order to claim the top prize. Questions began to arise regarding misunderstandings on the game’s winning scenarios. According to reports, the winning scenarios are stated on the back of the ticket, but there had been enough complaints to justify recalling the scratch-off game.

Robert Chalet, a local who played the game, apparently had a winning hand consisting of 5-6-9-J-Q, while the dealer had 4-6-7-10-Q. PokerStars verified that in a real-life game, a tie with the high card would push the result to the second-highest card, which in this case would mean Chalet won. However, when Chalet went to cash in his ticket, he was told he did not win. According to the directions on the scratch-off, ties are not considered. Judy Drucker, a Lottery spokesperson, said that the Chalet story was inaccurate and that all winning tickets would be honored. With over 40,000 tickets claimed by players, NJ looks like they have a lot of paying off to do.

Lottery workers had to travel across the state gathering tickets and even going so far as to cross out advertisements with Sharpie. According to the Lottery website, over 4 million tickets were printed. Drucker surmises that about a quarter of those were sent to retailers.

Northstar has pushed out several different scratch-off and instant games to help stimulate their bottom line. Big-ticket sales like Mega Millions have reportedly missed the mark on expectations, and New Jersey online lottery tickets don’t seem to be making a dent in the state’s figures. Northstar recently put out a Keno quick draw game throughout bars and restaurants, where players could bet on a new game every 5 minutes. These instant games have smaller profit margins and have resulted in revenue streams below the intended budget. Speaking of budget, Northstar has cut theirs by $1 billion over the course of their 15-year contract. Their projected $965 million in revenue is far less than the expected $1.7 billion, a sign of how things have been going.

Carole Hedinger, Executive Director of the NJ Lottery Commission, remains optimistic that while the NJ Lottery may not be the best among other states, it will post one of the better revenue results. Any proceeds garnered through the Lottery are going to fund the public employee pension fund as opposed to education and social-service programs. Projections for 2018 are higher with a mark of $1.4 billion, but more mishaps like this could set the Lottery back further.

The group that makes up the winning lottery syndicate hired a spokesperson to keep their identities anonymous. ““This has come as a huge shock but we are thrilled. This will certainly make life easier for us all and will secure our futures,” said the spokesperson. The spokesperson continued, “But we are keeping level heads and we will try to take it all in and we will give it time before we decide what to do with our winnings.”

Lottery syndicates are typically made up of friends, families, coworkers or neighbors and is often a group of people who get together to purchase lottery tickets in order to increase their likelihood of winning. Access to buying lottery tickets online also facilitates options to participate in lottery syndicates to players from all over the world through licensed lottery agents. The prizes, if won, are shared throughout the group evenly. The group allows the players to cover more numbers and increase the likelihood of a big payday while the expense of the tickets is covered equally throughout the group. Lottery syndicates get a bad reputation online as you have to share winnings but when the check is big enough, sharing those winnings still deals out a life changing sum of money for most people.

Dermot Griffin is the National Lottery Chief Executive in Ireland who was absolutely charmed to deliver the winning check to the group who won it. He spoke on the group’s big win, “We always love seeing happy winners come into our winner’s room here in National Lottery headquarters. It is important these winners take the time and space to let the news sink in. This is an incredible amount of money to win, and we have recommended that the winners get independent financial and legal advice.”

The owners of the store that sold the winning ticket were over the moon about the winning syndicate. The shop’s clerk who was working that day, a 22 year-old Anmol Sagar, said he feels like Willy Wonka because he just handed out a golden ticket. The shop that sold the ticket, Garryduff XL in Castlebar, was awarded a 25,000-euro bonus for selling the ticket.

Ireland has had several lucky winners since Euromillions began handing out paydays in 2004. Dolores McNamara won a check in 2005 for 115 million EUR which immediately made her the 58^th most wealthy person in the country of Ireland. Another lucky couple won 15 million euros in July of 2008 followed almost immediately by a family’s syndicate who won 29.4 million euros in June of the next year.

The two lotteries in question, Mega Millions and Powerball, are offered widely throughout the country and the US territories. Mega Millions is offered in 44 states in total, along with the District of Colombia and the UK Virgin Islands as well. Powerball Is also available in 44 states and also in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the District of Colombia.

The public was informed that the games might be dropped due to the budget deadlock by the Illinois Lottery spokesman, Jason Schaumburg. He added quite obviously, that the games weren’t going to be able to function without a solid state budget being presenting by the end of June. According to the spokesperson the games would be suspended at different times. Powerball will be suspended after it’s drawing on June 28^th while Mega Millions will close for Illinois based players on June 30^th unless the states officials can get together and close the deal on a balanced budget before then.

Over the course of the last 6 months, a succession of stories has been published and used by the staff at the Chicago tribune to locate the company that has had the responsibility with running the lottery in Illinois. They have found that the Northstar Lottery Group, the group that runs the lottery, has failed to pay out over 40 percent of the winnings in which they have been tasked with awarding. They have even gone as far as to end some of the games before the winners can be drawn so they didn’t have to pay out the grand prizes to their winners.

The announcement of the budget deadlock isn’t the first time that there has been documented problems between the state of Illinois and Multistate lottery associations. In 2015, lottery officials were found in breach of finance law when they prepaid $20 million dollars to the Multistate Lottery Association before the budget was approved. 2015 was also a year that a budget deadlock loomed around officials and it was seen as an attempt to save the lottery if the budget would not be finished in time.

Now, in 2017 there has not been any prepayments and with the budget in the same circumstances there stands a higher likelihood that these games will actually be eliminated from the state. John Patterson was quoted at the Chicago Tribune, “This is why the Senate passed a balanced budget, to prevent things like this from happening.”

A Rockford Republican, Sen. Dave Syverson commented on a special session that legislators would have that could clear things up. He mentioned that there could be some final action taken to avoid this whole dilemma that would result in the automatic funding of transfers involved in lottery and would thus make them not subject to legislative approval.  Such a move could keep Illinois involved with the USA multi-state lottery games.

Governor Tom Wolf’s budget secretary Randy Albright is estimating that the digital expansion will generate an additional $19 million in revenue for the Lottery, an ambitious figure, but one Albright is standing by. Supporters of this bill see online expansion as the only viable solution to increasing the Lottery revenue and any other steps away from it will have negative implications. This bill includes provisions to allow both the Lottery and local casinos to offer online games. Daily Fantasy Sports games would be also be regulated under this bill and airports would be granted the right to open gambling sections.

Senator John Gordner is part of the opposition effort and believes that too much expansion will result in the wrong effects. One of those effects is competition, and the wrong sort. Gordner is under the impression that the amount of traffic diverted to the online venues will take away from brick-and-mortar casinos and horse tracks. Not only will revenue be on the line, but the jobs of the thousands of people employed there. In the grand scheme of things, revenue is revenue from a state perspective, but Gordner is more concerned about the implications on a civilian level.

Others see the competition has a positive effect. Supporters of the bill have adopted a sort of adapt-or-die mentality that seeks to address changing consumer patterns. Most businesses have to have some sort of online presence in order to remain relevant in today’s society. Those like Albright who support the bill see it as a way of helping the Lottery survive. Furthermore, any revenue from the Lottery is funneled back into the state, creating incentive to find any and all possible ways to help increase those amounts.

Despite the opposition, the bill passed through the Senate 38-12 and is headed back to the House for further approval. The bill has seen several different amendments in hopes of accommodating both sides of the issue. Representatives from the state Lottery also believe that the bill will benefit their industry and allow for satisfaction from both consumer and legislative standpoints.

“We’re pleased that Senate recognized the need for the Pennsylvania Lottery to modernize by selling games online, which will help us to meet our players where they already are and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving gaming environment. Expanding into iLottery games will help us to generate the long-term, sustainable profit growth necessary to maintain the Lottery’s funding of vital services for older Pennsylvanians,” said Gary Miller, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Lottery.

If Pennsylvania is successful in implementing this online Lottery market, other states may look to emulate their progress. There is no telling for sure how the online presence will affect the casino sector of the state, but other states with regulated online casinos have shown positive revenue trends.

Thus far, Pennsylvania residents have had the option of legally purchasing lottery tickets online through licensed, offshore lottery agents, and this move would expand their range of choices to include state based online ticket purchases as well. Though domestic gambling initiatives cannot typically compete with the bonus schemes and offerings that the large online gambling giants deliver, there are players who simply feel better about their money being applied directly to local budgets rather than the International gambling market. It is important to keep In mind that when you purchase lottery tickets for US games online, the money still streams into that state’s domestic lottery program regardless of where you buy your ticket, so either way players are supporting the local economy.