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
1,2,3,4,5 is just as likely as 7,12,19,27,35 or any other string of numbers available in the lotto.
You aren’t any less likely to win, but if you pick some numbers that many other people picked, you will have to split the prize even if you win, so you are playing the same odds for a lower payout.
Latest Answers