In the vein of “How to see the moon”, today we have “[H]ow to increase your odds of winning the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot”. Given the headline, this article should’ve been three words: “Buy more tickets”. It’s a weird trick, I know, but it’s literally the only thing that works.

In actuality, the piece contains some mildly interesting information about how to avoid splitting the jackpot on the infinitesimal chance that you do win. When humans select their own numbers, they do so in somewhat predictable ways, and the distribution is uneven. For example, 1 through 31 (for birthdays) are more likely to be selected by humans, even though they are not more likely to come up in the actual drawing. Thus, if you win with those numbers, it’s more likely you’d have to share the jackpot.

To maximize your odds of being the lone winner of a jackpot, you’re best served by letting the machine pick your numbers. But if you’re going to be logical and practical about this, you probably wouldn’t spend the $2 at all.