What are the odds?
A man from Vancouver won $100,000 on a Powerball ticket after lecturing to his friends about probability and odds.
Eric Swenson was trying to help his friends understand the concept of chance and bought a Powerball ticket as a real-life example explaining the odds of winning.
“It’s funny how it all worked out,” Swenson said. “We were doing computations on what the chances of getting a winning ticket were and it turned out I had a winning ticket.”
Swenson told lottery officials, “The nerdy side of me sticks to the numbers — but the winner in me says, it’s luck.”
Swenson said he will probably invest his winnings.
Swenson’s “Quick Pick” ticket matched four of the five numbers drawn, plus the Powerball number. Because his Powerball ticket was a Power Play, for an extra $1 at the time of purchase, the Vancouver resident’s $50,000 prize was automatically doubled to $100,000.
When asked if his life will change now that he won Powerball, Swenson chuckled. “Irony certainly is a funny thing,” he said.
The winning ticket was sold at a Plaid Pantry on Hayden Island in Portland, OR. which is just South of Vancouver, WA.
The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning a Match 4 + Powerball prize are 1 in 913,129. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338, according to lottery officials.