A journey through probability — from coin flips to cosmic miracles.
Scroll to explore.
You just traveled from 1 in 2 to 1 in 400 trillion.
The rarest thing on this list? You.
What Are the Odds? is a free online probability visualizer that takes you on a journey from everyday coin flips to cosmic impossibilities. Each probability is shown as highlighted dots among thousands of gray dots, making abstract numbers feel viscerally real. The experience covers 15 scenarios from 1 in 2 to 1 in 400 trillion.
Scroll through 15 probability scenarios arranged from most likely to most impossible. Each one shows the odds as a ratio and visualizes them as dots — one gold dot among hundreds or thousands of gray ones. For smaller odds, you can try to find the gold dot yourself. For astronomical odds, comparison text helps you grasp the scale.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292 million. That means if every person in the United States bought a single ticket, only one person would win. You're about 20,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime.
The odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime (about 80 years) are approximately 1 in 15,300, according to the National Weather Service. In any given year, that drops to about 1 in 1.2 million.
Scientists estimate the odds of you specifically being born — considering the chain of events from your parents meeting to the exact sperm and egg combination — at roughly 1 in 400 trillion. Some calculations that factor in all your ancestors put it even higher, at 1 in 10^2,685,000.
If you enjoyed this, try these: How Average Are You? · Your Life in Numbers · Spend a Billion · Born on This Day
Last updated: March 2026 · whatifs.fun — Free interactive games, experiments & simulations