Mega Millions Jackpot At $1 Billion Ahead Of Friday's Drawing

(CNN/WJZ) -- The Mega Millions jackpot -- drawing Friday night -- is worth a staggering $1 billion.

If won, it would be the second-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the third-largest in U.S. lottery history.

It's also highly, highly unlikely that you'll win it all: The odds of scoring the jackpot are one in 1 in 302,575,350.

But you never know. One Maryland person won the $731 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday.

Sorry about that. You can still try your luck with the lotto. But you're far more likely to ...

Get struck by lightning

Your odds of getting struck by lightning are about one in 500,000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. It's still a pretty unlikely event, but southeastern states are at the highest risk -- particularly, Florida, considered the "lightning capital of the US," because over 2,000 people have been struck by lightning there in the past 50 years.

Be allergic to water

Only one in 230 million people have an allergy to water, a condition called aquatic urticaria, per the BBC. People with the rare allergy develop hives when their skin comes in contact with water.

Become a saint

You've got a one in 20 million chance of being canonized in the Catholic Church, according to Gregory Baer, author of "Life: The Odds." He told ABC News ahead of his book release in 2003 you've got better odds of being named the Pope.

Become a movie star

You may have star power to spare, but you've also got a 1 in 1,190,000 chance of starring on the silver screen, according to "The Book of Odds" by Amram Shapiro. Hollywood is no joke.

Make it in the NBA under 6 feet tall

Oddly specific, sure, but if you're less than 6 feet tall, you've got 1 in 1.2 million odds of becoming a pro basketballer, according to the New York Times. If you were 7 feet tall, though, you'd have a 1 in 7 shot -- but growing that tall is incredibly rare, too.

If you're still trying your luck with the lotto

The next Mega Millions drawing is Friday at 11 p.m. ET. If you win it all, your cash option is $716.3 million, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. But don't feel too bad if you don't score big -- the odds weren't in your favor anyway.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.