Whenever a jackpot in one of the nation’s state-sanctioned numbers games, officially known as lotteries, approaches the stratosphere, reporters are asked to explain the odds of winning. Being notoriously bad at math, we often find some college professor to explain the formula then turn it into a simile, such as “it’s like being attacked by a grizzly and struck by lightning as you hit a golf ball for a hole-in-one.”

What we try to say, without actually spelling it out: It’s pretty much a sucker’s bet. Washington and other states, however, have extensive campaigns to convince people that they could beat the odds by plunking down a dollar or two.

So the Washington Lottery Commission must be ecstatic about Lisa and Everett Quam, who live near Auburn but could have come straight from Central Casting. They won the $90 million Powerball drawing the weekend after Thanksgiving. . .

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. . . Lisa Quam, who insisted she’s not a lucky person and had never won much more than a couple of concert tickets in a radio promotion, made a trip to the store on Thanksgiving for some pumpkin spice and a newspaper. They occasionally buy tickets for the family at holidays and birthdays but had never bought Powerball tickets before. When they got to the checkout and were talking about buying tickets, the checker suggested Powerball and they let the computer pick the numbers on their two tickets.

She stuck the tickets on the refrigerator, went out to the Black Friday sales the next morning and didn’t even check the numbers until Sunday, the day after the drawing. She found out her first ticket was a winner.

The family managed to keep it quiet until Thursday when they arrived for a press conference-slash-party at lottery headquarters, where more than two dozen lottery employees had donned special $90 million Powerball T-shirts and arranged for two cakes, banners, and of course the obligatory oversized check. A bit over the top but it was the state’s first Powerball winner.

The Quams, who had just notified their employer they were retiring early, hadn’t figured out whether to take the lump sum or the yearly payments, but Lisa said she has picked out a new car, a Subaru SUV, and will get her first smart phone.

Unfortunately for the family, most of her Christmas shopping was done before she checked the numbers. “I went out at 5 a.m. to buy socks at Fred Meyers for half-price,” she said.

It’s a great slice of life. But if all this makes you think of plunking down hard-earned cash for a Powerball ticket the next time you are at Rosauers, think of the odds of you hitting it big as being the second person on that golf course this week to be attacked by a grizzly and struck by lightning while hitting a hole in one.

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