The Math Behind McDonald's Monopoly Sweepstakes Shows The Only Properties That Really Matter

<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/542b0b83ecad045c09c17593-1200-924/im_lovin_it_(10-07-08)_(2936777806).jpg" border="0" alt="mcdonald's monopoly">McDonald's </span>kicked off its annual Monopoly sweepstakes today<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">, so of course we are thrilled to devour the stats. </span>

Lottery probabilities are a ton of fun, and Monopoly statistics are even more interesting, so a Monopoly-themed lottery may as well be Christmas for stat geeks.

Here's how it works. Every time you purchase certain items at McDonald's over the next couple weeks &#151; any one of 26 different menu items &#151; you'll get to peel off a game piece comprised of two stamps.

These game stamps can correspond to either an instant prize, or they can correlate to a space on the Monopoly board. For spaces on the Monopoly board, if you get all the properties of a single color &#151; or the Railroads &#151; you win a prize.

So, let's take a look at your odds of winning prizes by buying McDonald's.

<h3>The Basics</h3>

Before we get into the stats, there are a few basic elements of the game you need to know.

First of all, nobody cares about the online sweepstakes games. This is the last we will mention it, ever, because it's boring. All we care about is the in-store game, where you peel game pieces and win.

<ul>

<li>There are approximately 602,490,060 game pieces in play. </li>

<li>This means that there are 1.2 billion game stamps, or individual attempts at victory. </li>

<li>There are 135,540,995 food prizes</li>

<li>There are 15,838,729 instant win prizes. </li>

<li>The odds of winning a prize at the in-store game are 1 in 4, or a 25% probability.</li>

</ul>

<span style="line-height: 22.5px;">Here's what all that looks like:</span>

<span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/51e565df6bb3f78f78000024-613-403/chart_1-(4)-6.png" border="0" alt="McDonald's Monopoly">

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