Suggest OddsThe Secret Behind Powerball Strategies
IStock Photo 1909693 © Simon Askham
For those who buy into the lottery, purchasing multiple tickets—one every week, say, or five-or ten-at-a-time—might appear to substantially increase their odds. But what are the odds of winning a lottery? And do any “strategies” really work? To answer that, Book of Odds delves into the numbers behind the biggest American lottery: the Powerball.
The odds a state participates in the Powerball Lottery are 1 in 1.67, or 60% (31 states participate as of the end of October, 2009). Here’s how Powerball works.
Twice a week, the Multi-State Lottery Association holds a drawing in Orlando, Florida. Six numbers are randomly drawn, five from a drum of 59 white balls, and then a sixth from a drum of 39 red balls. To be a grand-prize winner, a ticket must match these six numbers. The order of the five white-ball numbers does not matter, but the red-ball number must match. What are the odds of winning the jackpot? Using common statistics, it’s easy to fall into a couple of traps when trying to figure it out. Two of the following calculations are wrong for one reason or another, and give incorrect odds. One calculation is right on the money.
a) 1/(59x59x59x59x59x39) = 1 in 27,882,047,661
b) 1/(59x58x57x56x55x39) = 1 in 23,429,886,480
c) 1/[(59x58x57x56x55/5!)x39] = 1 in 195,249,054
It’s not A. Those are the odds of winning a lottery in which every number-ball drawn is thrown back into the drum and possibly drawn again. A lottery drawing of that sort could have repeated numbers, like “32 4 17 56 17 17 (38).” In lotteries like Powerball, every number drawn means one less possibility for the next number drawn. (The red ball has a constant 39 possibilities, though, being in a separate drum.) The number of possibilities for white balls drops by one as each ball is drawn. Hence the streak “59x58x57x56x55,” which is then multiplied by 39 (the red ball’s number of possibilities). Which must mean B is correct, right?
Wrong. Because in Powerball, or almost any lottery, for that matter, the order of the numbers doesn’t matter. If the winning numbers are “33 21 47 2 58 (9),” then a winning ticket could read “21 58 2 47 33 (9)” or “47 33 2 58 21 (9).” The number of possible white-ball combinations is 5!, or 5x4x3x2x1. So to adjust for the white-ball order’s not mattering, the equation is divided by 5! So the odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are C, 1 in 195,200,000 (These odds are rounded from above). Better than the first two, but still incredibly small. To put it in perspective, the odds are better that a randomly chosen American male happens to be George Clooney.
Plus, the odds are almost 88% that in a given Powerball drawing, no one will win. Using a statistical function called a Poisson distribution, one can calculate the odds that a drawing will have 0 winning tickets, or 1 winner, or 2, or however many you like. Using the posted Powerball average of 13.5 winning tickets per year—meaning, out of 104 drawings a year, an average 0.1298 per drawing—one can determine that the odds of a drawing having 0 winners are 88%. Above that, the odds of there being:
- 1 winning ticket = 11%
- 2 winning tickets = 0.73%
- 3 winning tickets = 0.03%
So why do people buy lottery tickets? Well, for one thing, a jackpot’s size operates like a feedback loop: it gets bigger, so more people buy tickets, so it gets bigger, so more people buy tickets, so it gets bigger...until someone wins and lives happily ever after, or doesn’t. For another, many people believe purchasing tickets often, or in bunches, substantially increases their chances of eventually winning the lottery. It doesn’t. Even if purchasing 195,249,054 tickets over a lifetime guaranteed a jackpot win (which it doesn’t), that lifetime would have to be very long, or the buyer very rich to begin with:
- Buying two tickets a week, one for every Powerball drawing? Make sure you live 1,877,366 years.
- If that’s out of the question, simply buy 47,000 tickets every week for 80 years.
So live 200 times longer than the world’s oldest tree, or blow $47,000 a week, and you’ll eventually win. Right?
Wrong again. Buying a large amount of tickets doesn’t ensure anything. The only way to guarantee a win is to buy every possible group of winning numbers, all 195 million+, for a given drawing. Which, in Powerball is impossible for a number of reasons. A “brute force” approach like this has been done before, but in a different lottery, under different circumstances. In 1992, Stefan Klincewicz led a 28-person team in purchasing 80% of the number combinations for an Irish Lottery drawing. They went on to win around £1 million Irish, which (after expenses) meant a marginal profit. This strategy was only possible because the Irish Lottery was at the time a 6/36 drawing: 6 balls out of 36 total, in one drum. The odds of winning were 1 in 1,947,792. Since tickets cost £0.50 each, one could—and Klincewicz did—buy about £1 million in tickets and guarantee multiple wins (since the “syndicate” also cashed in on a number of smaller prizes). The Irish lottery has since increased the number of lotto balls to prevent this sort of thing from recurring. In Powerball, however, it just wouldn’t work. Having the money to purchase $195 million worth of tickets overrides the need to win a lottery at all, not to mention the suspicion one might arouse purchasing, say, 50,000 tickets at a gas station.
So what can you do to improve your chances in Powerball? Some websites claim that avoiding the numbers 31 and under—those human-chosen numbers corresponding to birthdays, or lucky numbers (7 & 13)—ups your odds, but this doesn’t improve your chances of winning. It simply improves your chances, ever so slightly, of not sharing the jackpot if you win. This is not probability so much as game theory. And buying more than one ticket for a single drawing will mathematically improve your odds, but they will still be so long that the effect will really be to drain your wallet.
Lottery wins are ultra-rare, and often disastrous—many winners lose friends and family, or go overboard and quickly end up in debt. And by investment-to-return ratio, lottery tickets are one of the worst investments on the planet.
(Note: In future articles we will explore the relative value of different lotteries and the benefits people derive beyond expected financial value.)
For those interested in the mathematics:
The “!” indicates a factorial, which means “multiply by all natural numbers below this one.” So 5!—or “five factorial”—gives 5x4x3x2x1. Factorials are good for calculating the number of combinations a list of objects/events can go in. If you want to watch 4 movies, for example, the number of different combinations in which you can watch them = 4!
Probability of (X wins) = (nˆX)(eˆ−n)/X!, where n = 0.1298 average winning tickets per drawing, X = possible number of winning tickets per drawing, and e = about 2.71828 (the base of natural logarithms).
Thus:
P(0) = 0.12980(0.8783)/0! = 0.8783 = 88%
P(1) = 0.12981(0.8783)/1! = 0.1140 = 11%
P(2) = 0.12982(0.8783)/2! = 0.0073 = 0.73%
P(3) = 0.12983(0.8783)/3! = 0.0003 = 0.03%
Comments (57)
One needs only use Time Mechanics to determine the winning numbers.
report abusemy name is william scott i live in usa i have this great testimony to give to you about my live how a man help me to get my love back me and my girl friend we were living happily and so i now told her that we are going to marriage to each other she was happy so she now told me that she is going to mate her parent for advice the next day she now now told me that she is going to marry me i said ok so the next month she now told me that not going to marry me again at first i tough it was a joke she now pack her thing and a boy now came and pick her i was pleading to her that she should stay that our marriage is come up next month she now life me ,so i now contacted spell caster that scam me so i was tried with my life so one day i saw a long time friend in london he now told that the spell caster that help him was dr ogogodu that this man is the greatest spell caster i n the world so i now told to help to reach him so i now contacted the spell caster he now told me not to worry about this case that he is going to help me he now do what he want to do the next day i received a call from my girl friend she pleading to me that i should for her i now for give her so we now got marriage on the 16 of march 2013 i told dr ogogodu to he came to my wedding he is a good man that is why i want to thank him i saw dr ogogodu he is not a fake spell caster he is the best spell caster so if you want to meet him on the email ogogodutempleofsolution@gmail.com or you can still call him on this number +23478999655 so me and my wife we thanks you for reading our testimony
report abusethanks
DR OGOGODU
FROM:USA
NAME:WILLIAMS SCOTT
Hello friends my name Sussane i want to thank great igbalu for what he did for me,i was in love with a boy his name is Garick both of us loved each other very well suddenly i got pregnant for him so i when i told him he was shocked but at a time he looked it to be very good then were living happily till my pregnancy got to 3 months i did not know what happened he just told me that he is too young to be a father that i should go and terminate the pregnancy, i told him over my living body i won't do such,this is a boy that is very rich not just that the money to take care of the child is not,but what could have made him to say that he doesn't want to be a father now,due to i refused to terminate the pregnancy he left me here in the usa for 4months making the pregnancy 7moths,and i was not having a job then i started suffering with my pregnancy,then i was still looking for solution to get him back because i love him such much and he is the father of the baby of my unborn child,i was going through the internet when i saw a how a woman named elizabeth (elizabeth100morgan@aol.com) was helped by this great man named igbalu then i decided to contact when i contacted him i told him every thing, the only thing he told me was that my love will be back to me within 48hours,at first i could not believe him, but at the same time i have to watch and see, in the next 48hours unbelievable i got a call from him he was pleading and begging me that he is very so what he did to me, i was so surprised because i never taught such thin can happen that was how i accepted his apology and now we are living happily, the most surprising part was that he gave me access to his account to ensure me that he is not going to live me for any reasons,thank you sir for bringing back happiness into my life,if you need his help you can contact him through his private email:igbalutempleofsolution@hotmail.com i learned that he was using igbalutempleofsolution@gmail.com but the account was disabled,you can still email me for more details:sussanegarick@live.com once again thank you sir,
report abuseName: Sussane
Country: usa
My email;sussanegarick@live.com
My name stave fisher i am a doctor i live in USA i had a problem with my wife so i did my possible best to please her that she going to live me that we can not have children that i am not man so i told her that i love her that we can make thing work i told her that we should go and do this test and surprised she was the one who had the problem so were look for solution,i was contacting a lot of fake spell they scam me i was tried of my life so i was reading the newspaper when i saw a testimony by a woman that this man help so i was try to get the woman when i now saw the the woman now told me that my problem is over when i contact this man i tough she was joking when she now told her friend story how this man help her to have children of her own so i now told my wife we now this to contact him so the next four day a man who also have a problem of his wife that left him for 2year now,when he now contact this man this man help him to get his wife back and now they her happy he give is testimony on the television so now contacted this man this man now told that it is God that give children that he is going to pray for me and my wife after he had pray for me the next month my wife was pregnant i was happy i now told him he was happy for me i now i want to tell the world this man is a man sent by God to come help people,i thank you every much for help me so if you are in need of is help contact him on this email ogogodutempleofsolution@gmail.com or call him on this number +2348078999655
report abusethank the great ogogodu you are different from all spell caster thank you for help me
name:Dr Stave fisher
country :USA
My name stave fisher i am a doctor i live in USA i had a problem with my wife so i did my possible best to please her that she going to live me that we can not have children that i am not man so i told her that i love her that we can make thing work i told her that we should go and do this test and surprised she was the one who had the problem so were look for solution,i was contacting a lot of fake spell they scam me i was tried of my life so i was reading the newspaper when i saw a testimony by a woman that this man help so i was try to get the woman when i now saw the the woman now told me that my problem is over when i contact this man i tough she was joking when she now told her friend story how this man help her to have children of her own so i now told my wife we now this to contact him so the next four day a man who also have a problem of his wife that left him for 2year now,when he now contact this man this man help him to get his wife back and now they her happy he give is testimony on the television so now contacted this man this man now told that it is God that give children that he is going to pray for me and my wife after he had pray for me the next month my wife was pregnant i was happy i now told him he was happy for me i now i want to tell the world this man is a man sent by God to come help people,i thank you every much for help me so if you are in need of is help contact him on this email ogogodutempleofsolution@gmail.com or call him on this number +2348078999655
report abusethank the great ogogodu you are different from all spell caster thank you for help me
name:Dr Stave fisher
country :USA
What a wonderful and a straight forward spell caster that has brought back joy and happiness into my life after i saw a post on how he helped a lady called Cassandra,i decided to contact him for help when i told this God sent man Dr jadula on how my lover left me for 2 years without calling nor texting me,When i shared this my sad experience with Dr jadula he said everything would be okay within 3 days i was like am i sure what this man is saying is real,So i decided to give a try and i what even surprised me the most at first i was also thinking he was a scam i taught he was like other spell caster who come online to add pain to peoples pain not knowing there feelings but to make money,But this great man Dr jadula is never like that his own is for good and make people to be happy with the one they love,Am just so happy,Even before the 3 days i just got a call from a man who has left me for 2 years saying he his sorry and that he wants me back to his life i was so happy,He invited me for a dinner which i meant him there and we bought talked and he said he wants to prove that he would never leave me for any other lady he engaged me and also make me had access to all his account am so happy all thanks goes to this great man Dr jadula a man who has brought back joy to my life,Please friends that needs help i would advice and swear that Dr jadula is the right man and not those fake ones who are online to make money and not to help here is Dr jadula's private mail jadulaspelltemple@gmail.com
report abuseWhat a wonderful and a straight forward spell caster that has brought back joy and happiness into my life after i saw a post on how he helped a lady called Cassandra,i decided to contact him for help when i told this God sent man Dr jadula on how my lover left me for 2 years without calling nor texting me,When i shared this my sad experience with Dr jadula he said everything would be okay within 3 days i was like am i sure what this man is saying is real,So i decided to give a try and i what even surprised me the most at first i was also thinking he was a scam i taught he was like other spell caster who come online to add pain to peoples pain not knowing there feelings but to make money,But this great man Dr jadula is never like that his own is for good and make people to be happy with the one they love,Am just so happy,Even before the 3 days i just got a call from a man who has left me for 2 years saying he his sorry and that he wants me back to his life i was so happy,He invited me for a dinner which i meant him there and we bought talked and he said he wants to prove that he would never leave me for any other lady he engaged me and also make me had access to all his account am so happy all thanks goes to this great man Dr jadula a man who has brought back joy to my life,Please friends that needs help i would advice and swear that Dr jadula is the right man and not those fake ones who are online to make money and not to help here is Dr jadula's private mail jadulaspelltemple@gmail.com
report abuseHi My name is “juan” just want to share my experience with the world on
report abusehow i got my love back and saved my marriage… I was married for 4years with
3kids and we lived happily until things started getting ugly and we had a
fights and arguments almost every time… it got worse at a point that he
filed for divorce… I tried my best to make him change his mind & stay with
me cause i loved him with all my heart and didn’t want to loose him but
everything just didn’t work out… he moved out of the house and still went
ahead to file for divorce… I pleaded and tried everything but still nothing
worked. The breakthrough came when someone introduced me to this wonderful,
great spell caster greatkekespelltemple@gmail.com who eventually helped me
out… I have never been a fan of things like this but just decided to try
reluctantly cause I was desperate and left with no choice… He did special
prayers and used roots and herbs… Within 3 days he called me and was sorry
for all the emotional trauma he had cost me, moved back to the house and we
continue to live happily, the kids are happy too and we are expecting our
fourth child… I have introduced him to a lot of couples with problems
across the world and they have had good news… contact him on greatkekespelltemple@gmail.com or call him on +2348104181322
I don't just know how to start am just short of word's and happy that i would be celebrating my Esther with my wife,Due to the help of dr ikuku,This dr ikuku has brought back happiness into my life that i have lacked for year,My name is Maxwell am from the United State of America,Am just so happy today and today has been the happiest day of my life and this happiness has brought me joy and am so happy,Because dr ikuku brought back my lover tricia into my arms without any delay,After my lover left me for good 2years,i was in deep pain and always thinking because i truly loved Tricia,Until a faithful day listen to the radio due to boredom,Then in which i had a lady shouting in happiness about the great thing dr ikuku has done how dr ikuku brought back her lover back into her arms within 36hours,when i had that goodness i decided in contacting dr ikuku immediately,Because i was desperate in getting in touch with him,So i got in touch with him,Which then i told him my problem and he promised in bringing back Tricia back to my arms within 24hours,And then when i had that Tricia would be back to my arms within 24hours i was so happy and waiting to feel Tricia,And really Tricia came into my arms within 24hours,Begging me for forgiveness,i was so happy when i saw Tricia now my lover is fully back to my arms due to the help of this great man dr ikuku who has bought back happiness into our great country(Usa)Please friend in need of help you don't need to go far all you need to do is for you to kindly contact dr ikuku for help,Because he his trustworthy and straight forward,You can contact him on his private mail,ikukutempleofsolution@gmail.com or cell number +2348034458597
report abuseAm just over whelmed,And testifying to the goodness of this great man dr ikuku,I am Chris from the United state of America,Am just happy that i would be celebrating the Esther with my lover Cara,Due to the help of dr ikuku,After my lover left me for 2years without any notification or her where about,i was in total confusion,Because i really loved Cara with all my heart,i tried every means in getting Cara back but it was never possible,i was always hearing my friend telling me that they always see Cara with another man,Each time i hear that i just get depressed,Until a faithful day when i was just in a garden,Listen to the radio with my phone,Until i had a lady testifying in the name of dr ikuku how dr ikuku brought back her husband into her arms within 24hours,And saying dr ikuku would be in the USA next month,That she is so happy,i was so happy when i heard that,So then i got dr ikuku contact,Which then i sent him a mail and he replied,After that i gave him a call,And explained things to him and also told him how is name has been talk of the Usa,Then he said i should not worry that he promises to bring back my lover within 36hours,i was so happy when i had that,Then i decided to give dr ikuku a trier,And my trier never went in vain my lover even came before the 36hours,She came in tears and begged me for forgiveness i was so happy,That i would be celebrating this Esther festival with my lover Cara,Now Cara is back to my arms she cant do without seeing me or holding me a day,This is due to the help of dr ikuku,Please friend you dont need to go far our helper has been sent by God you can contact him on his private mail ikukutempleofsolution@gmail.com or cell Number +2348034458597
report abuseme 2 !! i have a chance of winning 320,000,000 than a group that"s buys 10,000 tickets!!! hip hip... :)
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report abuseMy situation was hopeless me and my husband was on the verge of divorce. I was in a awful state and felt that I was not able to cope with life any longer. I found wiseindividualspell@gmail.com and tried him. Well, he did return and now we are doing well again, more than ever before. Thank you so much wiseindividualspell@gmail.com i will forever be grateful to you.
Thanks to Dr Olumba, after reading the post of Adams,Pamela and Gary,about how Dr Olumba help them get back their jobs and Lovers, I quickly wrote him and explained how Mike abandoned me on December 21st for another lady and wanted him back, Dr Olumba said I should smile 3times and said he assure me his gonna be back to me in 48hrs if he could get some items in the market to cast the spell, I wait patiently and he got back to me after he got the items and went to the mountain, the Next day at 9pm Mike came to my door step and knelt down, I open the door and I was shocked so I let him in and he said he will never ignore me again, we had sex that night, I was so happy and tried telling Dr Olumba about this success but he said all he wanted was for me to share the testimony and let people know how real this is, People all over the world Dr Olumba is someone I can recommend and testify am a live witness of this. You can contact him on his phone or email for any kind of spell. +2348169108089 olumbaspiritualproblemsolver@gmail.com
report abuseChristiana (UK)
I am Miss JENN.USA,FLORIDA I will start by saying to all that have experience heart break and also cant do with out there lover should please stop here and read up my story, So as you will know how to go solving or getting your ex back from this spell caster..AND AGAIN I WILL WANT TO ALSO TELL ALL THAT THIS SPELL CASTER I WILL WANT TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD ABOUT IS HARMLESS AND DO NOT HAVE ANY SIDE EFFECT, BUT TO RESTORE AND GIVE YOU BACK WHAT YOU DESERVE, COS WHEN I MEET WITH THIS SPELL CASTER THAT WAS INTRODUCED TO ME BY THE WIFE OF MY BOSS IN MY WORKING PLACE, HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE CAN CAST SPELL ON SO MANY OTHER PROBLEMS EXCEPT IN GETTING YOUR EX OR MAKING YOUR LOVER TO LOVE YOU MORE THAT WILL SUITE YOU. Last year December, My lover was cheating on me and was not also give me the attention that a man should give to a woman,And really that was troubling my mind and tearing my heart apart to the extent that i was not concentrating in the office the way i use to before the break up by my lover.And before that incident,I always see how my boss use to love his wife so much. I was binging to think that i was not doing the right thing to him that will make him love me forever,So i really gathered my courage and went to my boss wife office to ask her the secret that made her husband love her so dearly,In the first place she refused in telling me,She asked me why i am asking her such a question,That if is it not normal for every man to love his wife.I told her the reason that made me ask her about this question,That my lover started cheating on me lately,When i knelt down before her for her to see my seriousness in this issue that i went to ask her,She opened up to me by telling me that i should not tell anybody about what she want to tell me,The wife to my boss started to say to me that she used a very powerful spell on his husband to love her,And the spell that she used is harmless, But the spell is just to make him love her and never to look for any other woman except her. I QUICKLY ASK HER HOW DID SHE GET TO KNOW THIS GREAT,POWER,DURABLE AND PERFECT WORK SPELL CASTER,she said that a friend of hers also introduce her to him. Then i also ask her how i can meet with this spell caster.SHE SAID EVERYTHING TO ME,THAT THE NAME OF THIS SPELL CASTER IS Dr. IMOMOH TEMPLE .My next question to her was how can i get this wonderful spell caster,She said she is going to give me the email of the spell caster for me to contact him for my problem,Really she gave to me this spell caster email and i contacted him and explained all to him,And after every thing that needed to be done by the spell caster, In the next two days, My lover that hated me so much came to house begging for forgiveness and i was so glad that i have finally gotten my heart desire..I was so grateful to this spell caster for what he has done for my life.. So i made a promise to him that i will always continue telling the world about his wonderful work towards me and also to other that came to you before and also the people that will also get to you from my story that i narrated online now..I will want to say to the entire world that you should not cry over noting again, That there is a great man that has been helping individuals to restore there Joy and smile in there faces !! The direct email to get this man is : imomohspelltemple@yahoo.com,This is what i want to tell you all out there,That is thinking that all hope is lost ok..Thanks
report abusecontact him via email:imomohspelltemple@yahoo.com
thanks to your spell ASHRA,i contacted ashra spell temple and asked that a lottery winning spell should be caste for me , and ashra replied to me that once the spell is caste i we see the winning numbers in a dream ,last night, I had a dream but only remembered 5 lotto numbers anyway in the dream I was questioned how I got the winning numbers to win $30 million dollars and the ticket I bought was rejected for some reason. then i contacted ashra again and explained the dream and he interpreted the meaning of the dream and told me the numbers to play When I played the numbers ,as instructed, I won $24,000.00. My heart was racing so fast, it was incredible. After this substantial win, our lives have been totally transformed and are full of love and he also help me to cast a love spell that that also made my ex returned back to me. . . You said it would come right and it did. The reality is infinitely greater than the dream. you can also contact ashra on personal email address:ashraspelltemple@gmail.com or +2348131134346
report abusebest regards
BOBBY BROWN.
thanks to your spell ASHRA,i contacted ashra spell temple and asked that a lottery winning spell should be caste for me , and ashra replied to me that once the spell is caste i we see the winning numbers in a dream ,last night, I had a dream but only remembered 5 lotto numbers anyway in the dream I was questioned how I got the winning numbers to win $30 million dollars and the ticket I bought was rejected for some reason. then i contacted ashra again and explained the dream and he interpreted the meaning of the dream and told me the numbers to play When I played the numbers ,as instructed, I won $24,000.00. My heart was racing so fast, it was incredible. After this substantial win, our lives have been totally transformed and are full of love and he also help me to cast a love spell that that also made my ex returned back to me. . . You said it would come right and it did. The reality is infinitely greater than the dream. you can also contact ashra on personal email address:ashraspelltemple@gmail.com or +2348131134346
report abusebest regards
BOBBY BROWN.
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report abuseThanks to Dr. Dogood who help me to cast the spell I used to win the lotto I just won. I was the one who won the lotto out of 15,000 people that participated. I have never believe in spell in my life not until when I met this great man on templeofvadoo@gmail.com For any one who needs any kind of spell, Dr. Dogood is the right caster you can contacted, he is different from all the fake caster have been meeting since all these while. Try him
report abuseand you won't regret.
Say the jackpot is 600,000,000.00. It would take a massive team of people to be able to purchase the entire combinations, say $180,000,000.00. Each of these people would have millions in cash to pay for the tickets. Both the selling agent and purchaser will be handling nillions of trasactions,. I can imagine a Joe's Donut Shop selling 90,000,000 tickets, the cash, the tickets and the likely hood of robbery is real. I conclude it would take too many people to purchase the tickets and if there are 2 or more winners then spending $180,000,000.00 will be a waste, after lump sum, taxes and # of winners the purchaser should just keep his money. Can you imagine the searching of the tickets for winners.
report abuseAll theories other than simple singular player book odds don't matter in this original article case. When you get into any type of multiple player scenarios, you must then concern yourself with players playing the same number combinations. We know it happens frequently because we see multiple winners now and then.
report abuseCalculating odds or percentages of duplicate tickets is impossible. Even if you just added a higher weighting to numbers 1-31, for example, it wouldn'tfactor in 28 vs 31 day months. It would not be able to properly account for players that play month and year associated numbers.
Lastly, not everyone plays the same amount of these types of numbers. They can play between 1 - 6 date associated/type of numbers.
In the end we can only calculate individual odds of winning accounting for number of separate different number/combo tickets played by that same player.
Dear Thomas, I am not only deeply grateful to you, but am hopeful your patience with me is about to be rewarded.
report abuseFirst off, trust me, I HATE (lol) using the obnoxious uppercase letters! It’s just that I frequently utilize italics in my writings, and since that’s not an option here (nor is using bold print, nor underlinings), I use the uppercase option instead. Although, for your sake I’ll now use *encasing-asterisks* in order to indicate italicized words.
Secondly, with your help I think I’ve finally figured-out my great misunderstanding here.
You see, I was always looking at the situation from how an *outsider* would view matters; the “odds-maker,” as I put it. Someone with no actual “skin in the game” (he/she is not an actual ticket buyer) – a person who was only interested in calculating which particular *group* of ticket buyers has the best statistical probability of winning!
But once the odds-maker becomes an actual *participant* in the game, everything changes.
First, how the “odds-maker” sees things.
You just acknowledged (below) that the 1500 group had a better chance of winning the drawing than did the 500 group (albeit a “group of *one*”), so it’s patently clear that the odds-maker – if the only question on the table was “From which group will the winning ticket most likely come from?” – would reply, “Why, the group of 1500, of course!”
Now, let’s further say that the only two “buy-in” options in the 500-1500 example were “You either buy 500 tickets, or 1 ticket; make your choice,” with it resulting in only one person taking the 500 option, with everyone else taking the 1 option. Since the “Golden Number” (*my* term; which I now realize only applies to the odds-maker, but *not* actual game participants) is the average number of tickets in a contest “most likely to succeed in winning it all,” the odds-maker would announce “The Golden Number for this particular contest is 1 ticket.”
Additionally, since gambling events always involve “oppositional, competing opponents,” the odds-maker would say “In this particular contest, as far as *I’m* concerned – since *my* wager is in predicting which *group* the winning ticket will most likely come from – it is a *fact* that Group 500 and Group 1500 are the *only* 2 competitors *competing* in this contest!”
Hence, the root of my “competition fallacy.”
But now I finally understand that actual game *participants* are only playing “against the odds,” with particular “groups” of ticket buyers being irrelevant. The only way to “increase one’s odds,” is to buy more tickets.
Now, with all that having been said, let’s look at a “slightly-new example,” but still looking at matters *from the odds-maker’s perspective,* not from any of the actual game participants’ perspective.
Let’s call it the “1900-100 Contest,” whereby one entrant owns 100 tickets, with the other 1900 tickets being held by 1900 different individuals. Even though the 100-ticket buyer has a 100x better probability of beating any of his (or her) “*individual* opponents / competitors,” there’s still a 20x-more likelihood that one member from Group 1900 will end-up beating Group 100. (And, again, the “Golden Number” to the odds-maker would be 1, as should be obvious.)
But if the odds-maker wanted to become a *member* of either group, everything would change! No “competition of groups,” no “Golden Number,” no “historic record of gameplay” (which I now realize wouldn’t even apply to odds-makers; more on this momentarily).
All that goes away!
For, I also now “get” how “past performance is not indicative of future results,” as the saying goes.
And yet, finally, regardless of all that, it’s still true that there *must be* some sort of game theory out there whereby, if an odds-maker knew the *average number of tickets purchased at-a-time by individual players* in a given lottery, there *would be* a “Golden Number” of tickets revealed which would represent, “on average” how many tickets the typical player in a given lottery buys “at-a-time.” Whether that number would correlate to what the average number of tickets bought by *winners* of lotteries is, is potentially a different matter, altogether.
For instance, the Missouri winner in the recent Powerball lottery only bought 5 tickets; but whether 5 tickets is what the *average* Powerball winner buys, or whether it’s the amount of tickets the average *overall* Powerball ticket buys, well, again, perhaps these are entirely different matters.
And yes, I now fully realize that, even if an odds-maker *could* ascertain the “Golden (Average) Number” of tickets bought by typical lottery winners, just buying that particular number of tickets “over-and-over-and-over again” – well, if there *was* any sort of “slight statistical benefit” to buying that number of tickets, said “benefit” would be so “insanely” small as to be rendered all but 100% insignificant!
Thomas, thanks again for all your *great* assistance here!
Hopefully “class dismissed,” lol…
Okay, let me see if I can make myself clearer then.
report abuseGoing back to your example of 500-1500. Your probabilities are totally right, which indicates that you are understanding "very simple probabilities" indeed. The thing though, is that you have to compare the 75% probability of a winning single-buyer, with the fact that those single-buyers represent 75% of the tickets. So one single-buyer still has 1/2000 chances of having the winning ticket. Similarly, the 500-ticket buyer got 25% of the ticket pool, so he gets 25% chances of winning. So yes, the probability is higher that the winning ticket might be in the group of single buyers, but there is still 1500 of them. So the probability for one single-buyer to win is (75%)/1500 = 1/2000. For the 500-ticket guy: (25%)/1 = 1/4. He definitely has more chances since he bough way more tickets.
The conclusion being that it doesn't matter who actually holds the ticket. Each ticket has the same probability to be the winning one, whether it is in the hand of a group, a buyer of multiple tickets or a single-ticket holder.
Then for your 1990 to 10 example, the group of 1990 has 1990/2000 chances to win as a group, and the other one has 10/2000. 1990/2000+10/2000=1, there is a winner no matter what. But if the winning ticket is among the 1990, which is more likely, they will still have to divide the pot by 1990, or then only one gets to win and it's really everyone for themselves, at 1/2000 odds.
Finally, and for the third time, which becomes frustrating, please stop using competing (and uppercase too, it's just annoying). No one is competing against no one. If the last 10 tickets weren't bought, the odds of winning (probability) for the group would still be 1990/2000.
To be clear, I enjoy this exchange, although I am not convinced it is going anywhere, but I am always interested in a teaching challenge. Also, odds, chances, and luck are vague terms. Probability is the proper English word for the "odds" or the "chances" of some event happening (or not). But when you hear "chances are it will rain tomorrow", this doesn't really qualify as probability. You can identify an event: "it will rain", and its opposite "it won't", but you cannot precisely describe the probability of one or the other happening (I am not convinced this is the best example but hopefully it helps).
I don't have a book on my mind, I learned all that stuff in high school a long time ago, but I'm sure amazon can help you.
Best,
Thomas
P.S. (A “P.S.” to the post immediately BELOW, not ABOVE.) Oh, I also wished to clarify what I meant by the word “before” in my earlier post – the time when you (Thomas) attempted to correct me by writing “no one wins before you.” I meant “if the 1,000-ticket buyer and the 1-ticket buyer kept placing identical wagers, game-after-game-after-game, the odds are that someone ELSE will win the Jackpot BEFORE either of them do.” Which, of course, is precisely correct.
report abuseDear Thomas, thank you for your kind and patient efforts here.
report abuseBy no means am I trying to be stubborn, I’m simply having a hard time understanding matters; and, unfortunately it appears that I STILL don’t – for, since you seem to know what you’re talking about, I MUST not understand “very simple probabilities,” and for that I apologize.
See, by simply “tweaking” your “2000 combinations, 1000 individuals getting single tickets, one individual buying 1000 tickets”-example to where it becomes a “2000 combinations, 1500 individuals getting single tickets, one individual buying 500 tickets”-scenario, it just seems to me that the “probability” is precisely 25% that the winning ticket will be amongst the 500-ticket buyer’s tickets, with a 75% “probability” being that the winning ticket will be amongst one of the 1500 single-ticket buyers; but, if I understand you correctly, apparently this is not so – and therefore I obviously don’t understand “probability theory.”
For, sadly, prior to your sage examples, I would have gladly bet $1,000 dollars that there WAS a higher “probability” that one of the single-ticket buyers (in the GROUP of 1,500) was the most likely party to have won the contest – rather than their COMPETITOR, the SINGLE 500-ticket buyer – but since I’m not fond of losing money, it seems I should not. And yet, still, “silly me,” if I could partake in the above contest, I would LOVE to be a member of the single-ticket buyers; a GROUP with a 3x-higher “probability” of beating the single 500-ticket buyer – yet, according to you, said GROUP does NOT have a better probability of winning the contest.
I guess, according to “probability theory,” if one GROUP of 1,990-ticket buyers COMPETED with another GROUP comprised of just 10 individuals who bought the 10 remaining tickets, the “probability” that either GROUP would win would be the SAME: 2,000-to-1 odds – simply because each GROUP was contending with the SAME 2K-to-1 odds, and NOT “competing” with each other. Wow.
See, maybe I’m confusing “chances” with “probabilities.” I just thought that if someone had more “chances” to win a contest, then it was more “probable” that they’d win, as well. But somehow it appears I’m wrong and I just don’t “get it.”
And so, since it appears that I AM wrong, could you kindly provide me with what the CORRECT “probabilities” are in the above “2000 combinations, 1500 individuals getting single tickets, one individual buying 500 tickets”-scenario is (along with the title of a good, easy-to-understand book on probabilities)?
I sincerely thank you for all your time, patience, and efforts here.
I'm sorry if i sound patronizing, but I tried to explain the issue with what I though were simple terms, and it didn't seem to work. So I just think either you didn't read and/or understood the original articles and the comments, or you are just stubborn and convinced you are right by making up stories with fake numbers.
report abuseStill let me try one last time.
Two very different issues here. One, winning a lottery is not a competition against other players. All the odds discussed here are about getting the right numbers. I someone else did and you end up with a tie, it's still a win (but for half the money). Otherwise you have to discuss the probabilities of winning a specific amount which will quickly get complicated. So if you win you win, no matter how much money is on the table, and the probability doesn't depend on other players.
Second, the "golden number" falacy: what about the case of a group of a thousand friends bying a thousand tickets together? Do you think their chances are lower that if they bought their tickets individually? No, it's the same! Actually, you could argue it's even higher since if theyget 1000 tickets that are all different they avoid the event of all individually getting the same numbers.
Other example. 2000 combinations, 1000 individuals getting single tickets, one individual buying 1000 tickets. What are the probabilities that a 1000-ticket buyer wins? 50%. A single-ticket buyer? 50% too! The 1000-ticket buyer has 1000 times more chances to win than a single ticket buyer, but he invested 1000 more. No "golden number" to look for, it is just very simple probabilities.
And by the way, about your last paragraph, no one wins before you. If someone wins you lost and are out, if no one wins everybody lost (obviously) and you can purchase a new ticket for the next round, all odds are reset back to zero, the new round is independent from the previous one.
Buy a probability book and keep yourself busy for a few nights before trying to beat the lottery (or think you can improve your odds with some imaginary theory). Lotteries are design to generate money, just like gambling machines, which is why everyone that has some mathematical understanding doesn't expect to win. Blackjack and poker on the other hand, are another story.
Thomas
Hello again, I’d like to thank both Thomas and the “green shirt” guy for their replies.
report abuseRespectfully, I still strongly disagree with both of you, and here is why:
Winning a Grand Prize in a major lottery very much IS a competitive contest! Just ask the winners who have had to SPLIT their winnings with OTHER winners in a “tied contest” lest you have any doubts!
To further make my point, consider the following:
Let’s say that a ticket-buying “syndicate” was able to buy every possible combination of numbers in the Powerball lottery (admittedly an extremely difficult task; a multi-billionaire could do it, though at a net-loss of investment), then this would GUARANTEE that EVERYONE ELSE would LOSE – save for a tie; in which case, everyone BUT A SMALL HANDFUL OF OTHERS would lose.
This hypothetical example in fact PROVES that each player is not only “playing against the ODDS,” but “playing against OTHER PLAYERS,” as well.
In another hypothetical example, let’s say that only ONE person was allowed to play in a 1:175,000,000-odds lottery, with them buying 10,000,000 tickets for each drawing. Being that the odds are 1:175,000,000, it is clear that, over the course of 1,000 drawings, that they would almost CERTAINLY win at least ONE of the drawings (being that with that many drawings, they would have a 98.25% chance of winning at LEAST once) – and that this eventual win (or “wins”) would only be due to the LACK of any competition; which, once again, proves that “competition” in any given lottery most surely DOES matter, as to whether a given person wins, or not.
Now, “in the real world,” the “competition factor” in any given lottery is far less extreme than EITHER of the hypothetical situations just cited, but present nonetheless.
And that is my valid point which continually gets ignored!
What is “the competition factor” – which DETERMINES what I call the “Golden Number?!”
In my earlier “short-term” lottery history hypothetical example (below) I gave a scenario whereby 1 person bought 1,000 tickets, 17 people bought 100 tickets (thus 1,700 tickets), 593 people bought 5 tickets (thus 2,965 tickets), and 8,756 people bought 1 ticket. This meant that a total of 14,421 tickets were bought by 9,367 different ticket holders. Now, let’s say that there were only 14,421 possible different combinations of numbers possible in the contest, and that, “raffle style,” each of the tickets had a different number combination on it. This meant that SOMEONE (of the 9,367 different ticket holders) was GUARANTEED to win the contest (with no lesser prizes, nor possibility of “splitting the pot” involved; as this was a “winner-take-all” event).
This meant that the 1,000-ticket buyer had a 6.9% chance of winning the lottery, whereby he (or she) had a 93.1% chance of losing.
Had an odds-maker predicted in advance which group should’ve produced the winning ticket, he (or she) would’ve said “6.9% the 1,000-ticket buyer; 11.8% one of the 100-ticket buyers; 20.6% one of the 5-ticket buyers; and 60.7% one of the 1-ticket buyers” – and, what do you know, one of the 1-ticket buyers ended-up winning!
In short, if someone asked the odds-maker, “If you had to make a bet, which group would you bet on?,” he’d say, “Well, of course the one-ticket buyers.” What he WOULDN’T say is, “Well, since every line of numbers on every ticket has an equal chance of winning, I’d have to say all 4 groups has THE EXACT SAME CHANCE of winning.”
I mean, everyone says (as it applies to INDIVIDUALS who buy tickets), “The MORE tickets you buy, the BETTER chance you have of winning,” but then they DON’T apply this VERY SAME PRINCIPLE to GROUPS who buy tickets?! This sort of “double-standard reasoning” simply doesn’t make ANY sense, whatsoever!
And so, if an odds-maker would say, “The odds FAVOR that the winning ticket shall come from someone in the group of ONE-ticket buyers,” why shouldn’t anyone else?
A lottery is a “zero-sum game:” Eventually, either YOU win it, or SOMEONE ELSE does (or you split the prize; though that is STILL a “zero-sum outcome,” being that the game is over). Therefore, a one-ticket winner has, in the final analysis, as much power to say “game over,” as does a 1,000-ticket winner.
And so, since, as I just established above, every player is IN FACT competing with every OTHER player, I STILL maintain that it’s smarter to buy 1 ticket vs. 1,000 tickets! I’d rather be in a group that statistically has a 60.7% chance to “win it all,” than be in a group that only has a 6.9% chance, wouldn’t you???
And this ESPECIALLY pertains to what the “green shirts” guy (below) said about buying more tickets equaling an “infinitesimally” better chance of winning a lottery. If it’s true the “Golden Number” is only ONE ticket (I think it’s more than one, but roll with me here), and I buy just ONE ticket in the Powerball contest, I would have a 175,000,000-to-one chance of winning the Grand Prize, whereas someone else who bought 1,000 tickets would have a 175,000-to-one chance of winning it.
We’d BOTH have an “infinitesimally small chance” of winning the Grand Prize; and so, being that the odds – due to the COMPETITION – is that someone ELSE is going to win the Jackpot before EITHER of us do, it’s completely clear that the smarter bet IS just ONE ticket vs. the 1,000 tickets!
Thanks again for hearing me out.
Buying a single ticket based on the fact that more winners had only purchased a single ticket to win is silly.
report abuseWhat if we asked what color shirt they were wearing when they purchased said ticket? What if most people happening to be wearing green shirts? Would you be sure to put on your green shirt before bought your single ticket? That would give you best odds, right? Nope, shirt color does not matter. Buying a single tickets is not better than multiple. The more you buy, the infintesimally better chance you'll have.
To the guy discussing the historical data and so on, you need to make the disctinction between probabilities and statistics. Probabilities are based on some facts (number of balls...) and the history of previous events doesn't matter at all (unless the game is rigged).
report abuseHere is an example. When you look at presidential polls, you usually see something like candidate A gets 54% of the vote, cadidate B gets 45%, with a 3% margin. This is a statistical analysis, based on the number of polled persons (often 1000, giving the 3% margin). If an election was stricly a probabilistic event instead, say a coin toss, the odds would be 50%-50%, period. Whether candidate A won for the past 20 times or not, he still has 50% chances at a coin toss.
Back to the powerball, if you buy 1000 tickets you multiply your chances of winning by 1000 (hopefully you got different numbers on each ticket), and that's it. There is no golden number, which is why your discussion doens't make much sense on a scientific point of view.
Also, playing at a lottery is only a competition agains the lottery itself, not against other gamblers. You have the same probability of winning whether you are the only one playing or one out of one billion. The only difference is that the odds of having to share the prize are greater in the second case, but not the odds of winning themselves.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
To the person who said if you buy all combinations you might end up sharing it, that's true but you're overlooking the fact that you'd have all those PB tickets, PB+1, PB+2, PB +3, etc tickets also. You would even win every single 5 white ball $1m prizes too. The actual winnings would be enormous.
report abuseWhere do I report abuse?
report abuse"Some websites claim that avoiding the numbers 31 and under..."
report abuse28nov2012 PowerBall numbers: 5-23-16-22-29 and (6)
LOL!
Thank you for your thoughtful "Regarding the discussion about historical data"-reply.
report abuseAs I understand how lotteries operate, there actually ARE 2 sets of statistical averages. The "raw, brute #'s" set that you just wonderfully went over, and then, once again, the long-term "historic" set -- which is where the house's "historic pay-out" table comes in.
Take the following "short-term"-example, which in theory should be extrapolatable into a longer-term set: 1 person buys 1,000 tickets, 17 people buy 100 tickets, 593 people buy 5 tickets, and 8,756 people buy 1 ticket. Out of which group of people is the winning Grand Prize likeliest to come from? Clearly the 1-ticket group!
Now, while it may be true that the single 1,000-ticket buyer has a 1,000x better chance of beating any SINGLE member of the 8,756 1-ticket buyers, it's quite clear that, "overall," one of the 8,756 1-ticket buyers has a better chance of beating the single person holding the 1,000 tickets!
See, if I'm correct, then statisticians apparently forget to factor-in the brute reality that lotteries are COMPETITIONS, which are thus RELATIVE to different #'s of GROUPS of ticket buyers, NOT just a matter of "odds in a vacuum!" Again, if I'm correct here, then the smartest buyers of tickets in the above COMPETITIVE scenario would be the 1-ticket buyers, NOT the single 1,000 tickets buyer!
So, again I ask, since I'm sure major lotteries give each of their Grand Prize winners a form to fill-out which has a question on it to the effect, "How many tickets TOTAL did you buy at the time that you bought your winning ticket?," then it follows that these various lotteries know EXACTLY what the "smartest # of tickets to buy" (hence the "Golden #") is for any one of their particular games!!!
I imagine that, over time, said Golden # is relatively stable (let's guess 7-9 tickets), and this is why I surmise that a statistical mathematician can likely determine what said "historical" Golden # likely is WITHOUT necessarily having to consult the HQ of any given lottery (in order for THEM to state what the Golden # is)!
Please, either show me where I'm wrong here, else "get" how my line of reasoning makes total sense! Thank You.
Regarding the discussion about historical data, let's make two assumptions. First, let us assume that each lottery drawing is an independent event. In other words, the results of any particular drawing are not influenced by the results of any other drawing. (If 59 was picked last time, that doesn't change the odds of it being picked this time.) Second, let us assume that there is no bias in the balls, ie. 59 is exactly as likely to be picked as 58, which is a presumed quality of the game.
report abuseSince there is no bias in the balls, a ticket that covers 10 combinations is exactly 10 times as likely to win as a ticket that covers 1 combination. If one gambler buys a ticket that covers 10 combinations and ten other gamblers each buy a ticket that covers 1 combination, it's exactly as likely that the drawn combination is picked by the 10-combo gambler as it is to be picked by a 1-combo gambler. This is true regardless of historic activity.
Let's say you are playing roulette. You've seen that the last 20 rolls turned up red 90% of the time. Does that mean you have a 90% chance of winning if you put your money on red for the next turn? No, not if the odds of red and black are even (for simplicity let's ignore green). People see a bunch of reds in a row and put a lot of money on black (because "black is due to show up!"), and this just allows Vegas to be built bigger and fancier.
Half a million dude...r
report abuseHi, I'm the guy who posted the "I apologize for not making myself clearer."-post yesterday. I'd still appreciate a few serious, analytical replies -- being that I think my points and questions are legitimate; Thanks! (P.S. ESPECIALLY now that the Powerball Jackpot is over a Half-Billion Dollars!! In short, NOW would be a REALLY good time to know what the PB's "Golden #" (see below) is, so as to go out and buy the "best" amount of tickets, "historically-speaking!")
report abuseTo the person that said " the jackpot is worth 450,000,000 now, so lets buy up all 180,000,000 plus combinations and still make millions" - BIG MISTAKE... Still doesn't guarantee that no one else will win and you will ave to split the pot!!!!!
report abuseScott F. (Troy, IN)
what ever... a flicker of hope is better than nothing at all. it's a game of luck !! who knows when your own luck strikes !!! =]
report abuseSo what if I buy 10 single tickets over the day, does that mean I should HISTORICALLY increase my chances of winning? lol.
report abuseI apologize for not making myself clearer. Let me put it THIS way: While it's clear that someone who buys $1,000 in Powerball tix has a statistically 500x better chance of winning the jackpot than someone who only buys a single $2 ticket, but in the overall HISTORY of the Powerball game, the total number of SINGLE-TICKET-BUYING $2 ticket jackpot winners have occurred more often than the total number of jackpot winners who have purchased $1,000 worth of tickets AT A TIME, then isn't it smarter "in the HISTORICAL average of the game," to buy only ONE $2 ticket vs. $1,000 of tickets per game? If the answer is "yes," then one next need compare ALL the denominations of tickets “bought at one time" to see if an even HIGHER likelihood of jackpot success (than the single ticket buyer) has HISTORICALLY been the case that, ON AVERAGE, either people who buy, say, $10 at-a-time, $20 at-a-time, $100 at-a-time, etc. win even MORE often than those who buy just ONE ticket. There's GOT to be a HISTORICALLY correct "Golden Average # of tickets bought-at-a-time" here, and while it may not be people who buy only ONE ticket or 500 tickets -- it's SOME number (2 tickets? 7? 12? 25?, etc.) Thanks for trying to help me here, but if I'm correct, then, just because STATISTICALLY someone who buys more tickets than someone else should ON AVR. win a lottery more often, does NOT mean that this has HISTORICALLY been the case. I wonder if there's anyway to logically calculate out this problem, or whether the Powerball HQ would have to give out said "golden #" (though I imagine they never would; because, say that they said "Our records show that the typical Powerball jackpot winner only buys 7 tickets," well, think about it, perhaps most people would hardly ever buy over 7 tickets per game!)? Thanks again with trying to help me with this “gnarly” question!
report abuseThanks for the great posts. I always buy just one lottery ticket per game, but then had an insight: Sure, the statistical odds are extreme, but perhaps you should ALSO consider which ticket buyers win the most lotteries. In short, are most Powerball jackpots won by one ticket buyers, or by multiple ticket buyers? In other words, let's say 23% of the time single $2 ticket buyers win, 39% of the time $10 ticket buyers (5 tickets) win, 21% of the time $20 ticket buyers (10 tickets) win, with the other denominations winning the remaining 17% of the time. So, if those stats were true, if I wanted to MAXIMIZE my odds, I'd always buy a $10 5-line ticket, rather than what I have been doing, buying merely a $2 (actually $3 since I go for the Power Play) 1-line ticket. So how do I find out who wins the most Powerball lotteries, single ticket or multiple ticket buyers? Thanks.
report abuseWhat you wrote Just makes no sense to me. The more combinations one has the better odds they have at winning. It's black and white.
report abuseSeveral things wrong about your statement. 1. You would not have enough time to purchase every combination from the time the previous numbers were drawn and the next numbers are drawn. 2. The cash option is $278,000 before taxes (thus millions of dollars lost), 3. If you took the annuity root, the interest on the money you had to borrow to buy the tickets would also result in a loss and 4. You are not guaranteed not to split the pot with someone else. However, nice try.
report abuseThe latest PowerBall jackpot is over 450 million. If there are only about 180 million possible combinations, buying one ticket with every possibility, for 2 dollars each, is about 360 million. You will win the Jackpot, and after taxes, still make miilions!
report abuseThank you for this excellent article. I was not dividing by the factorial and couldn't see why I was getting the wrong odds until I read it.
report abuseI buy one ticket per drawing. For my dollar I get the pleasure and hope of winning. Since I can afford the expense of two dollars per week, I feel that it is the second (and subsequent) tickets that provide little value. But the first ticket is well worth it to me.
i will probably never win but it gives me hope that i might eventually be able to help others in a large scale & also give my friends & family a better life, cant win if u dont play!!
report abusesds
report abuseim going to win this month june 2012 watch....i stay in tampa fl
report abuseim gonna win this month watch... i stay tampa fl
report abusewhen multi billions buy tickets and most never win then all those losers which is always most,are actually being mis led and defrauded.Lottory is actually,the biggest con game in the world;bar none.
report abuseI will play for fun and when I win it will be funny.
report abuseI will share after I have paid taxes, church 10% and bills. Buy a new house and set up a retirement fund that will be fun and enjoyable until I die.
Never running out of money due to my own retirement fund plus the lottery retirement fund.
Just remember do not overdo it.
Share with my family members and closest friends.
Oh yeah!! Send students on field trips that the schools are cutting out. Kids learn more in one/two day trip than reading about it.
so you're telling me I have a chance
report abusePeople win all the time right?!?!?!?! That means it is possible to win...
report abuseso what're my odds when i never buy tickest
report abuseBetter than ZERO ODDS
report abuseThat means I have a chance! Awesome! Gonna go get a ticket now.
report abusewhoah, i will never win either.
report abusewhoah, i willl never win
report abuse