The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot no matter the size stand near 1 in 292.2 million. Chances of taking home Mega Millions' top prize are even lower, at about 1 in 302.6 million. Because of the almost impossible chance of winning big, experts stress that you shouldn't spend all your money on lottery tickets.
In a typical 6/49 game, each player chooses six distinct numbers from a range of 1 49. If the six numbers on a ticket match the numbers drawn by the lottery, the ticket holder is a jackpot winner regardless of the order of the numbers. The probability of this happening is 1 in 13,983,816.