Science
Can lottery games be considered gambling?
They certainly have the same appeal and motivation, in that you stake money to win money.
Yet lottery players are not comparable to your average slots player to table game aficionado.
The odds are stacked against lottery players and they know it.
Can it change your chances of winning?
highly unlikely, but let’s delve deeper into the mathematics behind how these games work.
It all depends on which game you play, or specifically, how many numbers you oughta pick.
you better pick a specific amount of numbers, which range based on the game.
Calculating themathematical probabilitiesneeds combinatorial mathematical formulas.
We will need factorials and to use the binomial coefficient theorem.
Factorials are denoted by !
and multiply a number with all its preceding numbers in a sequence of -1 until 0.
Basically put, 6!
= 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 720.
TheUS Powerball, theUK National Lottery(lotto), and theEuroMillions all of which have different conditions.
Matching anywhere between 3 and 5 numbers, and you might receive prizes of varying amounts.
EuroMillions
One of the most popular international lotteries is the EuroMillions.
The most common is having lucky numbers.
Some players do the opposite.
But the maths does not support either theory.
Looking back, there will definitely be numbers that have cropped up frequently.
This can prompt players to think these numbers may come more regularly, like ahot hand fallacy.
Sure, some players may have a go at form patterns or read into anomalies orvariance in the results.
The only logical way of increasing your chances of winning is by buying more tickets.
That is, spend over 45 million, much more than the average max prize of 13 million.
The main prize in a progressive slot can easily rival that of smaller or medium-sized lotteries.
And, just like lotteries, they increase as more people play them.
However, the chances of a player getting addicted to the lottery are negligible.
You wont spend more than a couple of minutes buying your ticket.
Whereas in slots, blackjack or roulette, you’re able to spend hours playing round after round.
Are Lottery Games Rigged?
Most lotteries are run by the state, through governmental agencies, or state commissions.
Yet in some countries or regions, privately licensed companies have permission to run lotteries.
But if we are looking at lottery games from a purely pragmatic perspective, they are not worth it.
To gain a 50-50 chance of winning the National Lottery, you better buy 45 millions worth of tickets.
For a prize that on average is around 13 million.
If you were to try buying half the tickets for the Powerball, you wouldn’t fare much better.
It would cost nearly $150 million to increase your chance of winning to 50%.
But on average, the Powerball top prize is around $145 million.
The chances are that most of us will never experience a real lottery jackpot win.
Most lotteries have supplementary prizes, offered for hitting multiple correct numbers.
However, given the tremendous odds against winning, you arent really allowed to get your hopes up.
If you play, do so for the thrill of the draw.
Daniel has been writing about casinos and sports betting since 2021.
