The psychology behind buying a lottery ticket

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - The jackpot for the Powerball is now up to a record breaking amount at $1.4 billion, but the odds are stacked against you.

With the odds at one in 292.2 million, you're more likely to flip a coin and get heads 28 times in a row, get killed by a vending machine, be killed by a shark or win an Oscar than hit the jackpot.

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But the odds aren't stopping people from heading to convenience stores with the hope they'll be the lucky one.

"There's $1.4 billion. If I don't play, I have no chance of winning, so whatever the odds are, it's better than nothing," said Michael Montano who bought a Powerball ticket.

For first-time buyer Danny Neessen, it was mostly just to take part in all of the excitement.

"What would you do with all of that money? I mean, who would know how to do something with all that money? It's crazy but it's fun. Why not?" Neessen said.

Robert Wilson, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arizona said there could be several factors as to why people are willing to buy into something with such a low probability of winning.

The first, he said, has to do with the stories of those lucky few who actually win a large sum of money.

"It makes it feel like it's actually more probable than it actually is," Wilson said. "And such a low probability, one in nearly 300 million is so low, it's hard to even grasp what that number is."

Since tickets are just a few dollars, most see it as a relatively low risk for the possibility of a very large reward.

The other factor is the popularity of the drawing and the historic jackpot.

"Buying a ticket is like taking part in a cultural event. It's like buying a ticket to see Star Wars. Everybody is buying a ticket. You want to be part of that. It's something to talk about at work when you come in," Wilson said.

Finally, the ability to dream about what you'd do with the winnings is a big part as well.

Similar to what Neessen said, there is value in the ability to spend time thinking about the possibilities with $1.4 billion.

"The hope and the dream that you might win. So up until that ball actually comes out of the machine, you've got that chance that you're actually going to win something and it's a life-changing amount of money," Wilson said.