Explaining lottery odds

If you had to explain the odds of winning the lottery in terms most people could appreciate it - how would you do it?

I ask because, while there's already a thread about the US PowerBall, by pure co-incidence the UK lottery has reached its must-win roll-over jackpot this weekend.

What has been funny (actually very sad mathematically) is TV stations wheeling out statisticians to explain the ludicrous odds and the best way to pick your numbers - e.g. BBC morning TV had a lottery winner and a pretty girl from the "Royal Statistical Society".

(a) if you lined up a row of pennies from London to Manchester (about 240 miles) and marked one of them what would be your chances of picking the right one.
(b) if you met a stranger and had to correctly guess their mobile phone number (in the UK there are about 60m people and assume each has a phone).

News Item
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35265269



I won't be playing buy a ticket. fwiw they increased the number of balls from 49 to 59 but I'm guessing people have stuck with their "lucky numbers" and so not included any of the new high numbers.

I must have heard several different odds of being struck by lightning being bandied around in the last week. What are the correct odds and for what part of the world? I saw a lot more lightning living in Maryland than I do here in Vegas.

The odds are probably greater for me because I've been caught in some nasty lightning storms while hiking in the mountains.

I had to watch that video twice in the BBC piece to understand what the former winner was saying.