Lottery - colleague just won big
Discussion
I do the lottery now and again when Im feeling pissed off but am by no means a big spender
My (undeserving) colleague has recently bagged a sizable amount of cash
Obviously this is great (aaaargh) but Im wondering what it means statistically for me
As I see it there are 2 main options:
1) Lightning never strikes in the same place twice so I should stop wasting my money
2) There is some magic good luck floating around work and I should fill my boots with tickets before it evaporates
Comments welcome
The current plan is to continue buying tickets on an infrequent basis but Im curious as to what the celebral PH opinion is
t happens.Statistically it has no impact at all on your chance of winning. In fact the person who has just won has the same chance in the next draw as anyone else - assuming they buy a ticket of course ;-) We just like to see patterns in things.
I think the only way you can increase your chances of winning the lottery are to buy more tickets and the only way to decrease your chances is to not buy a ticket!
You can increase your chances of winning more money by the numbers you choose i.e. sharing it with less people. I vaguely remember a stats lecture at Uni discussing the lottery but it was a long time ago (and I didn't do maths in the end!) but it was something like don't pick 123456 as loads of people choose those numbers each week, make sure you have a number over 31 as that gets rid of all the people who play birthdays and there was something about numbers at the edge of the ticket rather than in the middle but I can't remember if less or more people pick them or not!
I think the only way you can increase your chances of winning the lottery are to buy more tickets and the only way to decrease your chances is to not buy a ticket!
You can increase your chances of winning more money by the numbers you choose i.e. sharing it with less people. I vaguely remember a stats lecture at Uni discussing the lottery but it was a long time ago (and I didn't do maths in the end!) but it was something like don't pick 123456 as loads of people choose those numbers each week, make sure you have a number over 31 as that gets rid of all the people who play birthdays and there was something about numbers at the edge of the ticket rather than in the middle but I can't remember if less or more people pick them or not!
What does it mean statistically? Well, the chance they'll hand in their notice is high - therefore so is probability you'll be doing their job as well as yours.
So not only do you not win the lottery, but you do win a vast increase in workload - Happy Christmas! Trebles all round! (at least they're buying - every cloud, and all that)
So not only do you not win the lottery, but you do win a vast increase in workload - Happy Christmas! Trebles all round! (at least they're buying - every cloud, and all that)
vescaegg said:
Guy I knew (not that well) won £108m. Last I heard on the rumour mill he bought a 100 acre estate down in Sussex and was bored out of his mind and not that happy....
He always seemed happy to me before he won but perhaps he wasn't particularly and the money hadn't helped.
That sounds like a lack of imagination to me!He always seemed happy to me before he won but perhaps he wasn't particularly and the money hadn't helped.
vescaegg said:
Guy I knew (not that well) won £108m. Last I heard on the rumour mill he bought a 100 acre estate down in Sussex and was bored out of his mind and not that happy....
He always seemed happy to me before he won but perhaps he wasn't particularly and the money hadn't helped.
He always has the option to go back to his old life. I'd guess he doesn't rich and "unhappy" is still better then the daily grind He always seemed happy to me before he won but perhaps he wasn't particularly and the money hadn't helped.
The problem is what you do when you're rich enough not to need to work. You soon realise that sitting in a big house watching day time TV is not that much different from being on the dole and having no mates.
You still need to do something to be social, and its surprising how much people get out of work other than money.
andy ted said:
Statistically it has no impact at all on your chance of winning. In fact the person who has just won has the same chance in the next draw as anyone else - assuming they buy a ticket of course ;-) We just like to see patterns in things.
I think the only way you can increase your chances of winning the lottery are to buy more tickets and the only way to decrease your chances is to not buy a ticket!
You can increase your chances of winning more money by the numbers you choose i.e. sharing it with less people. I vaguely remember a stats lecture at Uni discussing the lottery but it was a long time ago (and I didn't do maths in the end!) but it was something like don't pick 123456 as loads of people choose those numbers each week, make sure you have a number over 31 as that gets rid of all the people who play birthdays and there was something about numbers at the edge of the ticket rather than in the middle but I can't remember if less or more people pick them or not!
This is the correct answer. Every ticket has a 14m to 1 chance. Make your lowest number 32 and you are unlikely to share your jackpot win with anyone else.I think the only way you can increase your chances of winning the lottery are to buy more tickets and the only way to decrease your chances is to not buy a ticket!
You can increase your chances of winning more money by the numbers you choose i.e. sharing it with less people. I vaguely remember a stats lecture at Uni discussing the lottery but it was a long time ago (and I didn't do maths in the end!) but it was something like don't pick 123456 as loads of people choose those numbers each week, make sure you have a number over 31 as that gets rid of all the people who play birthdays and there was something about numbers at the edge of the ticket rather than in the middle but I can't remember if less or more people pick them or not!
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