Is Powerball a Mug's Game?It all depends on when you play—and what value you put on a dollar.

The multistate Powerball lottery jackpot has swelled to $365 million, the largest lottery jackpot ever in America. In 2001, mathematician Jordan Ellenberg explained why you're not a sucker for buying a ticket when the jackpot gets this big. "The question to ask is: What is the expected value of a lottery ticket? If the expected value is more than a dollar, and the ticket costs a dollar, you should buy a ticket. If the expected value is less than a dollar, you should keep your money."

PRINTE-MAILRECOMMEND...RSS

FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSE

SPONSORED CONTENT

• Witches' Brew at Winter Solstice
  How Wiccans do themselves in.
  Mark Oppenheimer | Dec. 18, 2009
• The Maccabees and the Hellenists
  Hanukkah as Jewish civil war.
  James Ponet | Dec. 14, 2009
• The Invisible Hand of God
  Adam Smith thought competition among religions was a good thing. Does Hanukkah prove him wrong?
  Ray Fisman | Dec. 13, 2009
• Search for more Recycled articles
• Subscribe to the Recycled RSS feed
• View our complete Recycled archive