So a co-worker was talking about someone’s stupid plan to always play the previous winning lotto numbers. I chimed in that I was pretty sure that didn’t actually hurt their odds. They thought I was crazy, pointing out that probably no lottery ever rolled the same five-six winning numbers twice in a row.
I seem to remember that I am correct, any sequence of numbers has the same odds. But I was totally unable to articulate how that could be. Can someone help me out? It does really seem like the person using this method would be at a serious disadvantage.
Edit: I get it, and I’m not gonna think about balls anymore today.
In: Mathematics
Yes it’s true.
It’s because the numbers (balls, whatever) have no memory.
Every draw is a complete reset, and what came in the weeks/months/years before have zero impact whatsoever.
But people can’t / won’t comprehend this.
[In 2009 the Bulgarian lottery had the same numbers in two draws, 5 days apart](https://gizmodo.com/why-the-exact-same-lottery-numbers-came-up-twice-in-one-1515565938)
Latest Answers