Odds Against

‘THE chances of being killed in a road accident in the UK are one in 6,000, the chances of being murdered this year on a British street are one in 80,000 and the chances of being dealt a royal flush in a game of poker are one in 650,000.

‘I had thought there was more chance of them finding WMDs than me winning the Lottery’

We mention this only by way of introduction to the launch yesterday of a new European lottery – another way to separate the people of Britain (and France and Spain) from their hard-earned cash.

The Times has calculated that the chance of winning the £50m jackpot on the new game, which launches next week, is one in 76,279,630.

In other words, you are more than five times less likely to win strike it rich in this new European lottery than you are on the current national lottery.

To put that further into perspective, you are more than ten times more likely to be hit by a meteor, eight times more likely to be hit by lightning and almost twice as likely to see a Tory Prime Minister again in your lifetime.’

Posted: 6th, February 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink