---
title: 'What You Need to Always Win the Lottery'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=RKjNg8vVu9c'
video_id: 'RKjNg8vVu9c'
date: 2026-07-31
duration_sec: 368
---

# What You Need to Always Win the Lottery

> Source: [What You Need to Always Win the Lottery](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RKjNg8vVu9c)

## Summary

This video explores the mathematics behind guaranteeing a lottery jackpot win. It breaks down the astronomical odds of winning Mega Millions and Powerball, calculates the cost of buying every possible ticket combination, and weighs the practical and financial risks of this extreme strategy.

### Key Points

- **The two big lotteries** [00:49] — In 2018, Mega Millions produced five jackpot payouts ranging from $142 million to $1.5 billion, while Powerball paid out eight jackpots from about $56 million to $687 million.
- **Astronomical odds** [01:19] — Mega Millions odds are 1 in 302 million; Powerball odds are just over 1 in 292 million. By comparison, the chance of being struck by lightning is about 1 in 700,000.
- **The guaranteed-win strategy** [02:19] — To guarantee a win, you need two things: a lot of money and a lot of friends. First, check the size of the jackpot to see if it exceeds the cost of covering every combination.
- **Powerball cost calculation** [02:48] — Rounded to 300 million combinations and multiplied by a $2 ticket price, buying every Powerball ticket costs about $600 million. A $700 million jackpot would leave $100 million in profit.
- **Mega Millions cost calculation** [03:31] — Rounded to 310 million combinations at $2 each, covering every Mega Millions ticket costs about $620 million. A $700 million jackpot leaves $80 million.
- **Time and friends needed** [04:08] — If one purchase takes a minute, a buyer can make only 4,320 transactions between Wednesday and Saturday. Covering every combination in that window requires more than 6,900 friends; a four-day window needs about 5,200.
- **Splitting and duplicate risk** [04:48] — After dividing a $100 million profit among thousands of friends, each share is roughly $14,000–$19,000. Additionally, in 2016 over 440 million Powerball tickets were sold, so duplicate combinations can split the jackpot.
- **Financial aftermath** [05:19] — Winners should hire an accountant or lawyer to protect their estate; many past winners ended up broke after reckless spending or poor advice.

### Conclusion

Guaranteeing a lottery win is mathematically possible, but it requires a $600 million-plus investment, thousands of assistants, and acceptance of the risk that you may still have to share the prize.

## Transcript

pleasures that most of you likely have is that you play the lottery from time to time we can't blame you since winning a jackpot in the millions is hard to resist but while most of you might spend $2 on the ticket with hopes that Lady
Luck will be on your side more ambitious players try to improve the odds by buying as many tickets as they can afford but how much will it take to win the lottery jackpot well you think about those odds make sure to like this video
subscribe to the richest and join our notification squad now before you figure out your winning combination let's check out how much it would cost to win the lottery jackpot [Music]
are Mega Millions and Powerball and if you're lucky enough to win the jackpot you're lucky enough to win the jackpot the payout is awesome in 2018 there were five Mega Millions jackpot payouts ranging from 142 million to an
ranging from 142 million to an astronomical 1.5 billion that same year Powerball paid out eight jackpots from nearly 56 million to more than six hundred and eighty seven million yes the rewards are great but as the saying goes
you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery for Mega Millions the chances of getting all six numbers is one and over three hundred and two million as for Powerball that figure is a little lower at just
over 292 million don't bother reaching for your though both the results will be remarkably close to zero as for the chances of being struck by lightning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has determined that it is about 1 in 700,000 those odds to get a lot smaller if you're teeing off in a thunderstorm at Colorado's Copper Creek
Golf Club the highest course in the u.s. in terms of elevation however there is a way to decrease the odds to the point that you can guarantee you winning the lottery but you're going to need two things to help you a lot of money and a
lot of friends first find out how big the jackpot is before you put this plan into action that's because you have to consider the stratospheric odds against winning a Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot as well as the cost of a ticket
regardless of which lottery you play confused let's look at Powerball the cheaper of the two options remember when it was revealed that the odds of getting it was revealed that the odds of getting every Powerball number were over 292
million let's round that off to 300 million for simplicity now multiply that since that's how much a lottery ticket costs your answer should be 600 million
if you're with us you'd realize that the only sure way to win the powerball lottery is to buy every single ticket issued that will set you back 600 million which means if you want to get a return on spending 600 million the
jackpot has to be worth more than that if it was of 700 million and you bought every combination which costs a total of 600 million what you'd wind up with would be 100 million in your pocket at the end let's do the same with Mega
Millions with the odds of winning calculated at one and over three hundred and two million for simplicity once again let's round it up to three hundred and ten million and multiply it by two being the cost of a ticket you should
have a total cost of six hundred and twenty million the amount it takes to buy every single Mega Millions combination if the jackpot is 700 million take away the cost of tickets purchased which is six hundred and
twenty million and what you have left when all is said and done is 80 million when all is said and done is 80 million that's a great payout if we factor in a minute to buy a Powerball ticket for each combination purchased between
Wednesday and Saturday you'd only be able to make four thousand three hundred and twenty transactions to ensure you can buy every combination in three days you'll need the help of more than six thousand nine hundred friends to do the
rest of the transactions between Saturday and Wednesday you can get away with about five thousand two hundred friends because that extra day to make up the purchases and for their efforts it looks like you'd have to split the
winnings meaning that if the jackpot was worth seven hundred million and you made about a hundred million you'd pocket between 14,000 and nineteen thousand after splitting it evenly with your friends your share after splitting a
Mega Millions profit would be a little lower however even though you have the ticket with a winning combination there's also a chance that you might not get the whole jackpot back in 2016 more than 440
million Powerball tickets were sold for one draw since the number of the Powerball combination stand at less than 300 million that meant there were tickets with duplicate combinations sold if it turns out another person won the
jackpot would be split between the both of you but what about your state of mind once you win you'll need someone like a good accountant or a lawyer to handle the estate it doesn't take that much for a crooked professional to put you into
the poorhouse there's plenty of stories about winners who wound up broke after a reckless life in the rich Lane we've established it would take in the neighborhood of six hundred million to win a lottery the question is though are
win a lottery the question is though are the rewards worth it would cost to win a lottery jackpot what's your take on how to limit the
odds let us know your thoughts in the comments below thanks for watching and comments below thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe