2006-07-05 14:09:44 · 14 answers · asked by vitruvian_guy 1 in Games & Recreation ➔ Gambling
The more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning the lottery. However, you need to buy lots and lots of tickets before the number of tickets you hold really makes a statistical difference. Even if you buy 100 tickets (which might cost you $100), your chances of winning would still only be 100/14 million - not even close to a 1% chance.
The key idea here is that your odds of winning increase dramatically when you buy more than one ticket. But the odds are still so stacked against you that it really doesn't make much of a difference. You may be 10 times more likely to win if you buy 10 tickets, but one in eight million isn't very good odds either.
Imagine a lottery where you pick six numbers from 1-49 and for a winning number, their order matters. Here you must use the formula for permutations to figure out the size of the sample space, which consists of the number of permutations of size k that can be taken from a set of n objects:
n!
n_P_k = ---------
(n - k)!
In our problem, we want to find 49_P_6, which is equal to:
49!
49_P_6 = ------ = 10,068,347,520
43!
Since only one possible ordering of the six numbers can win the lottery, there is only one favorable outcome. The sample space, however, is quite large because it is equal to 49_P_6, which is roughly 10 billion. This means that the probability of winning the lottery is about 1 in 10 billion.
If we define the lottery in a slightly different way, the probability of winning greatly improves. Suppose you still pick 6 numbers from 1-49, but this time order doesn't matter. Now you can use the formula for combinations to figure out the sample space, which consists of the number of combinations of size k that can be chosen from a set of n objects:
n!
n_C_k = -------------
k! (n - k)!
In our problem, we want to find 49_C_6, which is equal to:
49!
49_C_6 = ---------- = 13,983,816
6! * 43!
Since there is only one combination of six numbers that will win the lottery, there is again only one favorable outcome - so your chances of choosing the winning number are quite slim. However, the sample space has shrunk considerably (by a factor of 1000) because 49_C_6 is only roughly 14 million. The probability of winning this second lottery is 1 in 14 million.
What would happen if you bought 7 million tickets?
If you picked a different combination of six numbers for each of those 7 million tickets, you'd have 7 million of the possible winning combinations and the numerator of your probability fraction would therefore be 7 million. Given the second lottery, with a sample space of 14 million possible combinations, the probability of winning the lottery is 7 million/14 million, a probability of 50%.
Thus you can see that the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning the lottery. However, you need to buy lots and lots of tickets before the number of tickets you hold really makes a difference. Even if you buy 100 tickets (which might cost you $100), your chances of winning would still only be 100/14 million - not even close to a 1% chance.
2006-07-06 07:25:52 · answer #1 · answered by Sir J 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
if this was one of those pick six number lotteries
check out the odds for winning the lowest amount
say your ticket cost you a dollar.
and the odds were 1 in 1,000 that ticket would win a dollar
you would have to buy 100 tickets (pay 100 dollars)
to increase your chance of winning that one measly dollar by 10 times.
and whats worse you could buy 999 tickets and still never win that dollar prize.
2006-07-05 15:30:19 · answer #2 · answered by coachelarose 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hhmm? You'd think so, but your odds are still the same. Where I live - it's 1 in 14 million..... If I bought ten tickets, there will still be just one winning combination and so I still have just a 1 in 14,000,000 chance. It think that you'd have to buy a whole lot more tickets to see the needle move up the statistical graph of you winning.
2006-07-05 14:15:58 · answer #3 · answered by legacy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a 6/49 Lotto you chances of winning is 13,983,816 to 1.
Provided you only play 1 sequence.
And for every additional sequence played your changes are
increased, but only by a fraction.
If you play 10 sequences then your chances are 10 times better
than playing only 1 sequence. But that does not mean any of
your sequences will be a winning sequence.
2006-07-07 19:30:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, your chance is always based upon the number of tickets sold. If 100 tickets are sold, each ticket has a 1 in 100 chance.
2006-07-05 14:30:02 · answer #5 · answered by robert p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
robert p is thinking of raffle drawings. i think you mean lottery tickets like if 5 numbers are picked out of 60 total numbers or whatever. if so then it is not based on how many tickets are sold.
2006-07-05 14:36:13 · answer #6 · answered by whatwhatwhat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.
Lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.
2006-07-05 14:12:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes,and i bought my 5.00 dollar quik pick and i played my 5
numbers i always play for 5.00 dollars. $110 million dollars is
at stake in california. GOOD LUCK to ALL.
2006-07-05 14:14:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
something you should remember
0X100=0 Don't bet your last 10 bucks on something like this 0Xanything is still zero
2006-07-05 14:17:16 · answer #9 · answered by Rusty Nails 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. It means you are so silly to waste your money like that.
2006-07-05 14:13:45 · answer #10 · answered by redhead2734 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋