( CNN ) -- Last March , when the people of America were drooling at the thought of winning a record $ 656 million Mega Millions jackpot , we poured an icy bucket of mathematical reality over your head : You were n't going to win . And you did n't . Three winning tickets were sold , but you were n't involved . It was never going to happen . As we wrote then , you stood a better chance at hitting two consecutive holes in one than winning that jackpot . How winning could change your life . Now , with a record $ 550 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs Wednesday , we figured it was a great time to , once again , dash your dreams . We know , we know -- someone will win at least a share of the prize , if not Wednesday , then in some subsequent drawing . But it wo n't be you . Why you keep playing the lottery . The chance of a ticket winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 175,223,510 ( slightly better than the chance of winning a Mega Millions jackpot , which is 1 in 175,711,536 ) . Here are a few unlikely scenarios that , we 're sorry to say , are much more likely than you taking home this jackpot . From the Harvard School of Public Health : . -- Dying from a bee sting : 1 in 6.1 million . -- Dying from a lightning strike : 1 in 3 million . From U.S. Hole in One , which insures golf prizes for holes in one : . -- An amateur golfer making a hole in one on a par-3 hole : 1 in 12,500 . -- A golfer hitting a hole in one on consecutive par-3 holes : 1 in about 156 million . From a 2011 State Farm study on collisions between vehicles and deer : . -- Hitting a deer with a vehicle in Hawaii , the state where State Farm says deer-vehicle collisions are least likely : 1 in 6,267 . From the National Weather Service : . -- Being struck by lightning over an 80-year lifetime : 1 in 10,000 . From the Florida Museum of Natural History , based on U.S. beach injury statistics : . -- Drowning and other beach-related fatalities : 1 in 2 million . -- Being attacked by a shark : 1 in 11.5 million . But if you did win ... What do you think about your chances of winning on Wednesday ? Weigh in below , or on Twitter using # whataretheodds .
Chance of a ticket winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 175,223,510 . You have a better chance of hitting two straight holes in one . A record $ 550 million Powerball jackpot is up for grabs Wednesday .