Powerball Lottery Persuasive Essay

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With an expected return of 11% on a Powerball ticket, everyone should spend the $2 to have a chance at the $1.5 billion. On the eve of the Powerball drawing, everyone is rushing to get their last minute tickets. No one actually believes that they will win, but the imagination of having that $1.5 billion makes the $2 worth it. Anyone who actually thinks they will win the $1.5 billion jackpot is crazy. The thrill might be worth the $2 for some people, but a lot of people consider it throwing away money. What if I told you that buying a Powerball ticket was the best investment you are going to make all year, would you believe me? I'll tell you why this is true. Let's look at the facts, the Powerball jackpot is currently $1.5 billion and if you win the grand prize, you are likely to take the $930 mil cash, rather …show more content…

If you compute the expected winnings for all 8 additional prizes, you get approximately $0.09, $0.05, $0.0002, $0.006, $0.01, $0.01, $0.04, and $0.10 respectively. If you add up all of the expected outcomes of the grand prize and the eight additional prizes, you get approximately $2.22. This means that with each $2 ticket bought, on average, you are expected to gain $0.22, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it turns out to be a 11% return on your original investment. With the S&P 500 down over 5% in the last year, the 11% expected return looks like a far better option. The 11% expected return is even better than the average stock market return of 7%. Whoever wins the Powerball tonight will have their lives changed forever. Winning the Powerball may just seem like $2 daydream of "What if", but purchasing the ticket is a lot more than that. With the grand prize of $1.5 billion, the chance has never been better. So go down to your local 7Eleven and buy yourself the best investment of your year. Who knows, maybe you'll be the grand prize

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