Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you've undoubtedly at least heard of the breakout Broadway musical Hamilton , which stars the insanely talented Lin-Manuel Miranda and centers around the life of — you guessed it — Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. In fact, the production is so incredible that it's received a whopping 16 nominations for the 2016 Tony Awards. That's how good this show is. So naturally, everyone wants to go and see, which means ticket prices are through the roof and have many trying their luck at the Hamilton Lottery, which has gone digital and can now be done with ease online. However, applying for the ticket is pretty much the only thing easy about it because the odds of winning the Hamilton Lottery are just downright depressing when you crunch the numbers.
For starters, the mere fact that you can participate in the lottery online automatically diminishes the likelihood of winning. Because now, instead of the competition being between you and a few other avid Broadway enthusiasts who actually showed up in person for the lottery, you now have thousands upon thousands of people who can do it from the comfort of their home lap top. So that right there is a pretty depressing thought, though it certainly isn't the only factor to consider.
According to the Hamilton Lottery FAQ page, an average of 10,000 people enter the lottery each day. So considering that there are only 21 tickets available in total per day, your chances of winning are minuscule at best, especially since a majority of those who win probably requested two tickets instead of one. That makes the odds even less favorable since there's less tickets to hand out to other parties. How less favorable, you may ask? Thanks to the helpful chart Mashable.com put together, we know exactly how dire the situation is.
Based on the site's graph, the odds can be summed up in two different ways. If the 21 tickets are solely distributed among single entries, then the odds of you winning is 476 to one. However, if the 21 tickets are given out to 10 pairs of two (meaning 10 people received two tickets) and one single-ticket entry (in order to equal 21), then the odds of you winning jumps to a dismal 909 to one. And to help put things into an even greater perspective, they also compare your chances of going to see Hamilton to a list of other unlikely things to happen to you.
For instance, you have a better chance of writing a New York Times best-seller or dating a millionaire than you do of winning this lottery. The good news is, though, that the odds are higher than they are of you getting struck by lightning, which is kinda comforting at the very least, right? But let's not forget one very important thing about the lottery — it's a game of luck. It doesn't matter how slim the odds are, there's still always a chance they could come out in your favor.
So don't let all of these stats scare you away from trying. Luck could always be on your side, especially if you participate in the draw on a daily basis. Just don't be all that surprised if that highly coveted golden ticket ends up going to someone else.
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