[syhprum]

Own up has any correspondent to this forum ever bought a lottery ticket if so why ?

[CliffordK]

Own up has any correspondent to this forum ever bought a lottery ticket if so why ?

After a few weeks of losers, there is a point that the lottery frequently reaches where the expected payout is greater than the odds. 

So, say there is a 1 in 10 Million chance of winning, but an estimated $15 Million payout.  Then the cost/benefit becomes ambiguous. 

Of course, the odds of winning that $15 Million is still mighty slim.

The true payout is likely less due to taxes & fees, and perhaps accepting an annuity.  Nonetheless, it is a good starting point. 

[evan_au]

Then just increase the number of required matches.  Say, with the 1-1000 numbers, require players to match 50 distinct numbers. 

Even if there are a lot of players, it could take a good long time before a payout.  Think of the racket of the person putting the ticket revenue in the bank and investing on the unpaid proceeds.

There is a limit to the gullibility of the public. If they don't see any prizes being awarded, they will go elsewhere.

However, as long as they sometimes get a small prize (that pays for their ticket), or hear of a friend who won a small prize, it will keep them hooked, and continue throwing good money after bad.

[Bill S]

Own up has any correspondent to this forum ever bought a lottery ticket if so why ?

Guilty!  Back in the days when tickets were £1, I tried a few times.  I had 3x£10 wins in quite quick succession, but when I reckoned I had spent more than I had won, I ended that experiment.

[yor_on]

Good on you Alan

You made me laugh there :)

[yor_on]

" If there is an equal chance of any number in the lottery being drawn then why do you never get a combination like 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 9, 12, 15, 18, 21. Even 1,2,3,4,12,36 would probably not happen."

Actually I think you are catching on to something important there. Some combinations of numbers are indeed reducible, keeping their 'information' intact, while other number sequences are impossible to reduce and keep their information. In those cases you will need the whole sequence to transmit the 'information', and it's not only about numbers.

Eh sorry :)
But the question connected to something I read recently, although not about lottery's. And you questioning why actually made me think that you too somehow felt there should be different 'weights/importance' attached to different combinations

[CliffordK]

An interesting thing about odds... 
Say there are 6 numbers from 1 to 50, no repeats.

Then if one summed the numbers:
N1+N2+N3+N4+N5+N6

The minimum sum would be: 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21
The maximum sum would be: 50+49+48+47+46+45 = 285

The probably of each sum from 21 to 285 is NOT the same. 

There is only one way to get a sum of 21, and a sum of 285.
One way to get 22: 123457
Two ways to get 23: 123458 & 123467
Three ways to get 24: 123459 & 123468 & 123567

I assume the most common sum would be near the middle of the range, or about 153 which one could arrive out in a bunch of different ways.

[Ophiolite]

I play the lottery every week, but at zero cost. The odds of me finding the winning lottery ticket in a gutter, dropped by a careless gambler, are not practically too different from the odds of purchasing the winning ticket. Therefore, when I am out, I carefully scan gutters for that winning ticket. This affords me an opportunity to become rich, costs me nothing and has made me an expert on gutters.

[yor_on]

:)

[Bill S]

Just a thought about lottery combinations.  Consider two combinations:

A. 1,2,3,4,5,6
B. 12,19,27,39,40,48
Then ask two questions:
Which has the better chance of being this week’s jackpot winner?
Which is more likely to appear on any punter’s ticket?

One thing of which we can be fairly sure is that the winning combination will look more like B than A.