Lotto Vizzes FTW!
/I love every time the lotto gets so huge that people pay attention. My favorite hypothetical scenario to discuss isn't as much about how to spend the money, even though that is super fun to think about. I love even more to play out how I would handle the 24-48 hours after I realized I had won. Who would I tell? Where would I find a lawyer? (Isn't that what you should do first?) Is there anything I would stop doing immediately?
Sadly, I'm not living any of those scenarios...but apparently three lucky people are! My second favorite past time when it comes to lotto buzz is checking out all of the fun visualizations created using the rich data that is available to play around with. I was planning on sharing a couple of them in my newsletter, but there were so many good ones that I had to compile them into a blog post. I hope you enjoy my five favorite Powerball visualizations.
The LA Times posted a lottery simulator that lets you pick numbers and spend as much fake money as you'd like to see if you can win.
The Upshot strongly encourages you to take the annuity as opposed to a lump sum if you are the one 243 million. There actually aren't any visualizations but the data is pretty interesting.
Vox posted a series of interactive charts and wins the prize for saddest fact: "One in five Americans believe the lottery is the only way they can accumulate a significant amount of savings."
The Wall Street Journal demonstrated the actual odds with a (very) long scrolling page to show what one in 292 million actually looks like. Helpful hint: just click "Jump Ahead" because you will get carpal tunnel if you try to scroll the whole way on your own. (Thanks to Will for sending this my way!)
More from Vox: maps illustrating where Powerball is most popular. New England has Powerball fever!
Did I miss any other good ones?