Gaming the lottery

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LinusP
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Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:45 pm

Good article, amazes me that no one did the maths:

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/arti ... o-winners/
The brochure listed the odds of various correct guesses. Jerry saw that you had a 1-in-54 chance to pick three out of the six numbers in a drawing, winning $5, and a 1-in-1,500 chance to pick four numbers, winning $100. What he now realized, doing some mental arithmetic, was that a player who waited until the roll-down stood to win more than he lost, on average, as long as no player that week picked all six numbers. With the jackpot spilling over, each winning three-number combination would put $50 in the player’s pocket instead of $5, and the four-number winners would pay out $1,000 in prize money instead of $100, and all of a sudden, the odds were in your favor. If no one won the jackpot, Jerry realized, a $1 lottery ticket was worth more than $1 on a roll-down week—statistically speaking.
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napshnap
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Thanks, Linus. Interesting reading.
Original-Soultrader
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Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:19 am

Absolutely fascinating, thanks for the link.
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ShaunWhite
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Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

I'm amazed the numbers stacked up like that with it only working well if nobody won the rollover.

I remember similar stories circulating when the UK lottery first started, it was easier here because you could print those entry forms in advance with the right printer and the machines read 8 lines from each in a couple of seconds. I can't remember any of the details though so it's a bit of a non story. :roll:
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ShaunWhite
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Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am

Gambling is 100% an opportunity to make money, but there's two types of gambling. There's leisure gambling which will come at a cost for the entertainment value, and professional gambling which is a job of work. Totally different.

The industry isn't a 'scam', they're not charities handing out cash and everyone knows how they make a profit. They're certainly no more of a scam than any other company that sells a product for more than it costs them.

If you say you can't make money from gambling, then how do you think bookmakers make a profit?
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MobiusGrey
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Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 8:10 pm

nukenbu wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:09 pm
Post Deleted
The only scam I can see here is the fact you've dredged up a post from 3 years ago and so far made only 2 posts, 1 of which is linking to a shonky looking site.
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Realrocknrolla
Posts: 1903
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:15 pm

ShaunWhite wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:12 pm
Gambling is 100% an opportunity to make money, but there's two types of gambling. There's leisure gambling which will come at a cost for the entertainment value, and professional gambling which is a job of work. Totally different.

The industry isn't a 'scam', they're not charities handing out cash and everyone knows how they make a profit. They're certainly no more of a scam than any other company that sells a product for more than it costs them.

If you say you can't make money from gambling, then how do you think bookmakers make a profit?
Margins.

My local independent bookie mate is making 30-40% in his shops.

He has 5 of em. 🤑🤑🤑

However the old fellas love the atmosphere in the lounges.
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Euler
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Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

FYI, mods nuked the spam post that re-raised the thread.
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