Odds are you’ll get smashed by an asteroid before winning Powerball

Powerball fever has reached epidemic levels, with wishful winners dreaming of what they’d buy if they win Saturday’s $800 million jackpot.

Like Alice Walton’s ranch on the Brazos River, west of Fort Worth ($19.75 million).

Or a Lamborghini Veneno, which goes 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds ($4.5 million).

But seriously, you’re not going to win the record-breaking jackpot. The chances are better that you could be crushed by a vending machine or be named a saint.

The odds of winning Saturday’s Powerball? One in 292.2 million.

Here are some other odds worth noting, based on Google searches:

1 in 960,000 — odds of being struck by lightning

1 in 710,000 — odds of being killed by an asteroid

1 in 20 million — odds of being made a saint

1 in 112 million — odds of being crushed by a vending machine

Even — odds that the Dallas Cowboys will screw up their first-round draft pick

If you do win — but seriously, you’re not going to — the prize would have a cash option of $496 million, before taxes.

A gambling expert said there’s no harm in buying a ticket or two.

“Just don’t buy 20 tickets and think that’s improving your odds any appreciable amount,” said Lia Nower, professor and director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. “Someone will win eventually but, in this case, buying more is not better than less.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Odds are you’ll get smashed by an asteroid before winning Powerball."