Gambling

[TheHuckster]

So, you know the odds, and the only thing you do is the one thing that has the worst odds of any of it?

Fun fact: almost every lottery out there has worse odds than the lowest odds legally allowed in most casinos.

For $2 to win $500 Million vs $40 to win an insignificant fraction of that, the self-deluded excitement you get is worth it for some people.

The odds are next to impossible, yet the fact is people still win, and the relatively low cost for the cheap fantasy of winning is what you're really paying for. Plus, instead of driving all the way to a casino and spending hours playing games, all it takes is a purchase inside a gas station with your slim jim.

[cindybubbles]

And the best part of buying lottery tickets is that you can get your whole family involved if they are scratch cards. We even have a Christmas tradition where we all scratch the holiday lottery cards, just for fun, of course. Even the children get in on the action, although they're not of legal age.

I remember scratching lottery cards as a kid. Do you?

[Rageaholic]

For $2 to win $500 Million vs $40 to win an insignificant fraction of that, the self-deluded excitement you get is worth it for some people.

The odds are next to impossible, yet the fact is people still win, and the relatively low cost for the cheap fantasy of winning is what you're really paying for. Plus, instead of driving all the way to a casino and spending hours playing games, all it takes is a purchase inside a gas station with your slim jim.

Pretty much this. The lottery has terrible odds and most people will walk away with nothing, but it's the idea of being set for life by such a cheap and simple purpose that's compelling.

Also, the ticket is worth more as the jackpot increases (though taxes and multiple winners need to be taken into account).

On another rant, I really despise those 'how to win the lottery' scams. A lot of them are based on the idea that a certain number is 'due' to hit, which is bullshit. I mean, it can't hurt any worse than picking any other numbers, but the only real reason to avoid picking certain numbers (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or those lost numbers) is because so many people pick them that if they hit, you're not getting much of a jackpot.

[Tama]

Didn't some group actually do the math and figure out what the next set of winning numbers were?

[TheHuckster]

Didn't some group actually do the math and figure out what the next set of winning numbers were?

That's impossible without a time machine or rigging the machine. By definition, the lottery's winning numbers cannot be predicted no matter how good you are at math.

[KabeRinnaul]

Didn't some group actually do the math and figure out what the next set of winning numbers were?

That's impossible without a time machine or rigging the machine. By definition, the lottery's winning numbers cannot be predicted no matter how good you are at math.

On phone, so I can't get a link, but the story Tama is thinking of involved scratch-off tickets. Basically, somebody worked out that the numbers on the tickets were only semi-random, and winners could be predicted by a (visible before scratching) serial number on the ticket.

[Greenday]

That's impossible without a time machine or rigging the machine. By definition, the lottery's winning numbers cannot be predicted no matter how good you are at math.

This, though there WAS a group who figured out that for one state's game, you could bet enough tickets to guarantee the second biggest prize and it'd be less than the prize. They ended up making a few million.

[TheHuckster]

On phone, so I can't get a link, but the story Tama is thinking of involved scratch-off tickets. Basically, somebody worked out that the numbers on the tickets were only semi-random, and winners could be predicted by a (visible before scratching) serial number on the ticket.

Ah, that's very possible. The only time I've really played scratch tickets is if I get them in a yankee swap or something, but I seem to remember the serial number was under the foil, too, and it even said "VOID IF SCRATCHED" I could be thinking of something else, though.

[Racket_Man]

So, you know the odds, and the only thing you do is the one thing that has the worst odds of any of it?

and I know this going in. Which is why I only buy a ticket maybe once a year at best.

[wolfie]

the story Tama is thinking of involved scratch-off tickets. Basically, somebody worked out that the numbers on the tickets were only semi-random, and winners could be predicted by a (visible before scratching) serial number on the ticket.

Many years ago in B.C. there was a case where scratch-offs were predictable. It seems that the winners had a slight register difference in the printing of the latex compared to the losers, so someone "in the know" could choose a ticket based on how the latex was positioned relative to printing on the cardboard and have a better than 50% chance of winning something.

In all these cases of "predictable scratch-offs", I suspect that for security reasons (i.e. to better keep an eye on operators to keep them from pocketing a winning ticket), at the printing plant the winning tickets are either printed as a separate batch, or on a different machine, and then randomly inserted into stacks of losing tickets. After all, if a machine is printing only losing tickets, there's less temptation for someone to try to pocket one.

[Racket_Man]

Many years ago in B.C. there was a case where scratch-offs were predictable. It seems that the winners had a slight register difference in the printing of the latex compared to the losers, so someone "in the know" could choose a ticket based on how the latex was positioned relative to printing on the cardboard and have a better than 50% chance of winning something.

In all these cases of "predictable scratch-offs", I suspect that for security reasons (i.e. to better keep an eye on operators to keep them from pocketing a winning ticket), at the printing plant the winning tickets are either printed as a separate batch, or on a different machine, and then randomly inserted into stacks of losing tickets. After all, if a machine is printing only losing tickets, there's less temptation for someone to try to pocket one.

Unless the tickets are sold in a separated stack than the above situation is plausible.

ALL of the scratch-off type lottery tickets I have seen in several US states are ALL connected fanfold perforations in between "old school tractor feed paper" style. ALL of the tickets are printed on the same machine at the same time with a computer running the actual printing of the losing and winning tickets.

The only scratch off tickets that may not be continuous are the larger special type say like a 28 day calendar Xmas ticket that is 4 or 5 times the size of a normal ticket.

I have seen a few "how do they do that" type programs where they showed the process.
How scratch off tickets are make