Lottery - colleague just won big
Discussion
Moving back to statistics; over a set period, are you more likely to win by buying four tickets once a month, than by buying one ticket every every week?
I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
J4CKO said:
I would be very wary of going public, I won a car when I was 18 and mainly it was a very positive thing but I did get a bit of resentment of a couple of guys I worked with, nothing to overt, just overheard stuff and got the cold shoulder off one guy, that was just a car, so with several million you could never be sure of some peoples reactions or motives, apart from the people very close to you.
That's interesting, what car did you win?aww999 said:
Moving back to statistics; over a set period, are you more likely to win by buying four tickets once a month, than by buying one ticket every every week?
I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
If you look at each ticket individually, and assume the odds are exactly 14m to 1 (I think a bit less in reality), then 1 ticket each week bought for 4 weeks gives you a 1 in 14m chance each week.I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
Buy 4 in 1 week and whilst the first ticket is covering 14m possibilities, the 2nd is only covering 13,999,999 possibilities because you've already covered 1, the 3rd 13,999,998 because 2 are already covered and the 4th 13,999,997 as 3 are already covered.
As you say, buy all 14m tickets in 1 week and you will win. By 1 ticket a week for 14m weeks and you may never win.
aww999 said:
Moving back to statistics; over a set period, are you more likely to win by buying four tickets once a month, than by buying one ticket every every week?
I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
No as you would be buying fewer tickets I think yes, because the maximal extension is to buy *all* the tickets for one draw, whereupon you are guaranteed to win. It would be a boring 14.7 million weeks saving up at a £1 a week though!
Also no, because your extension would require you to buy all the tickets once every 14 million odd draws, which would mean only winning 1 in 14,735,847 times or whatever (the same as if you'd bought one ticket every time, statistically speaking).
Number 5 said:
J4CKO said:
I would be very wary of going public, I won a car when I was 18 and mainly it was a very positive thing but I did get a bit of resentment of a couple of guys I worked with, nothing to overt, just overheard stuff and got the cold shoulder off one guy, that was just a car, so with several million you could never be sure of some peoples reactions or motives, apart from the people very close to you.
That's interesting, what car did you win?Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my s
t job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
Someone previously mentioned it as a day dream tax. Which is exactly what it is. I'm not poor, might touch 6 figures on my income either this year or next. Have a nice house, nice life, wife doesn't have to work if she doesn't need to. Nothing to complain about. But I'd still like to win several million quid just like the next chap.
I just set up the direct debit on 1 weekly ticket with lucky dip numbers. Won £108 quid a few months ago which paid for a nice meal out for the two of us. Other than a few £10 wins I've had nothing on it. But for less than the cost of a pint a week, and the chance of winning, I'm still going to play.
I just set up the direct debit on 1 weekly ticket with lucky dip numbers. Won £108 quid a few months ago which paid for a nice meal out for the two of us. Other than a few £10 wins I've had nothing on it. But for less than the cost of a pint a week, and the chance of winning, I'm still going to play.
J4CKO said:
Was 1988, MK2 Golf GTI 8 valve in black.
Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my st job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.
We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
Great story. I would be happy if anyone I knew won a big prize. It doesn't make me any worse off or less happy. Can't get my head around the envy mentality. Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my s
t job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
But buying all the tickets in 1 week guarantees a win. Buying a ticket a week for 14m weeks does not.
Buying all the tickets guarantees one win, but buying a ticket once a week for 14 million times means you might win more than once (or not at all) Hence statistical equality Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Wednesday 24th December 12:17
P= 1 in both cases, whether you multiply the number of times you play or the number of chances to win each play.
Edited by simoid on Wednesday 24th December 12:22
I read a story (no idea if true) back when the UK lottery first started, about a US guy who realised that one of the state lotteries regularly rolled over enough to be worth multiple times the cost of buying every ticket combination. He got some wealthy investors together, and put an operation in place where he had hired people to buy great chunks of lottery tickets, fill them in, and enter them in the draw all in the space of a week. (This was well before online purchasing was possible.)
According to the story (no idea if true) he paid these people a retainer to keep them on standby, until the prize fund reached the critical level and his plan swung into action. It worked fairly well, but one large retailer refused to accept the "block purchase" approach that his team needed to use. This meant that when the draw occurred, there were still 10-15% of the possible combinations that they didn't have tickets for. There was also the risk that there would be multiple jackpot winners and the prize would be split two or three ways!
The final outcome was that he had the winning ticket, he did't split the prize, and after all the costs etc his "syndicate" made about a 50% return on their investment.
Frustratingly, I can't remember where I read it, and have never managed to find it again ( Ihave tried googling "guaranteed lottery winning plan" but there are quite a few hits for that!), so it may be entirely made up! Does it ring a bell with anyone else?
According to the story (no idea if true) he paid these people a retainer to keep them on standby, until the prize fund reached the critical level and his plan swung into action. It worked fairly well, but one large retailer refused to accept the "block purchase" approach that his team needed to use. This meant that when the draw occurred, there were still 10-15% of the possible combinations that they didn't have tickets for. There was also the risk that there would be multiple jackpot winners and the prize would be split two or three ways!
The final outcome was that he had the winning ticket, he did't split the prize, and after all the costs etc his "syndicate" made about a 50% return on their investment.
Frustratingly, I can't remember where I read it, and have never managed to find it again ( Ihave tried googling "guaranteed lottery winning plan" but there are quite a few hits for that!), so it may be entirely made up! Does it ring a bell with anyone else?
simoid said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
But buying all the tickets in 1 week guarantees a win. Buying a ticket a week for 14m weeks does not.
Buying all the tickets guarantees one win, but buying a ticket once a week for 14 million times means you might win more than once (or not at all) Hence statistical equality Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Wednesday 24th December 12:17
P= 1 in both cases, whether you multiply the number of times you play or the number of chances to win each play.
Edited by simoid on Wednesday 24th December 12:22
Buy 4 in 1 week and whilst the first ticket is covering 14m possibilities, the 2nd is only covering 13,999,999 possibilities because you've already covered 1, the 3rd 13,999,998 because 2 are already covered and the 4th 13,999,997 as 3 are already covered.
Buy buying 4 in 1 week, you eliminate the problem of the same numbers coming out twice.
1/14m 4 times is worse odds than 1/14m, 1/13999999, 1/13999998, 1/13999997
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Great story. I would be happy if anyone I knew won a big prize. It doesn't make me any worse off or less happy. Can't get my head around the envy mentality.
Man envy is strong when it comes to motor cars! TBH If I won the lottery the last thing I would do would be to splash out on metal.Edited by fido on Wednesday 24th December 12:38
TwigtheWonderkid said:
ash73 said:
No problem with people who can afford it burning a couple of quid a week while day-dreaming, but what about the vast majority who are desperate and blow £20-30 of their dole money on impossible odds they simply can't comprehend? Even otherwise intelligent people fall for the "someone's got to win it" malarkey.
People need protecting from themselves; it should be banned, imo.
People need protecting from themselves; it should be banned, imo.
You've got that the wrong way round I'm afraid. It's the vast majority why spend a couple of quid a week for a bit of harmless fun, and the small minority who blow half their benefit money.
Having cleared up that nonsensical part of your post, can you maybe see that banning an activity the vast majority enjoy and do sensibly, to protect us from a tiny minority of t
ts, is not a great idea.Like banning driving to protect us from a small number of drunken fools behind the wheel.
The "everything I don't like should be banned" brigade are what is wrong in the world, not the stupid people. Stupid people want to do what they do, the ban brigade just like to control everyone else and believe they are righteous and are always correct. I know which type I think is more poisonous to society, but I won't impose my view on anyone else, let them make up their own minds.
Anyway, moving on from that. A few million would see me set up for life but I'd keep my job going. I quite enjoy it, hours aren't bad and it keeps my mind active.
A huge win, £100mil+, there area lot of people in my life I would like to see set up by hadning out probably 80% of those winnings. Quite a lot of people to give a few million to, buy them some houses, lump sum for their kids future etc. so I'd probably spend the first year of a bumper win giving most of it away.
I'd love to not have to ever worry about money, but I have no need or desire to hit the Forbes list. As long as I own a house I love, have a few cars I enjoy, don't have any money stress and can concentrate on the rest of my life, I'd be happy.
ash73 said:
At the end of the day I benefit because there's no need to increase my income tax when stupid people and dreamers are willing to literally give their money away; but spare a thought for the poorest people who can least afford it.
Wondered when the "tax on the stupid" line would be rolled out........again.J4CKO said:
Number 5 said:
J4CKO said:
I would be very wary of going public, I won a car when I was 18 and mainly it was a very positive thing but I did get a bit of resentment of a couple of guys I worked with, nothing to overt, just overheard stuff and got the cold shoulder off one guy, that was just a car, so with several million you could never be sure of some peoples reactions or motives, apart from the people very close to you.
That's interesting, what car did you win?Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my s
t job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
I know someone that won a Ford Focus by finding a blue envelope in a Walkers crisp packet circa 2002, I believe she is still running the car
J4CKO said:
Was 1988, MK2 Golf GTI 8 valve in black.
Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my st job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.
We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
Brilliant post J4CKO, enjoyed reading that Was a Daily Mirror competition, Car a Day, ring up and name a car related song, had started a new job so was in charge of the post and the franking machine so I thought I may as well, forgot about it and then one day my dad comes in and throws me two letters, first was from the Driving Test people, I sent a cheque in for £15 for my test but it had gone up to £16.50 and they wanted the difference, second one was telling me I had won Day 1 of the Mirror Groups car a day competition, my prize being a Golf GTI with a full tank of fuel, took a few months for us to get it, picked it up from Smith Knight Fay in Stockport one day, my mum, dad brother and me, and my granddad, my grandma had just died so it was a bit of a fun distraction.
Anyway, my dad bought it off me and gave me his old (1969) Capri which I used when I passed my test a few months later, so I had eight grand in my pocket, enabled me to jack in my s
t job and go back to college to do Computer qualifications, I bought a Commodore Amiga and loads of bits for it, a £200 leather jacket, clothes, went on holiday and had a great time.We weren't rich by any stretch so having a brand new Golf GTI was fantastic, my dad loved it, he had been saving for ages to buy a Capri 2.8 so this changed his plans.
I would say it changed the course of my life, came at the right time, not a huge amount but it enabled me to get into IT which means I earnt more than I otherwise would.
Anyway, my dad got his moneys worth and had the car for 14 years, then one day he gave it back to me, still very tidy apart from a bit of rust under the arch covers which I sorted, I ran it for a couple of years and sold it to a chap off Edition 32 (Dubbers site) and he did some modifications but it died due to rust a couple of years later, to be fair it lived until at least 2006, so it lasted a good 18 years.
The leather jacket was recycled by my wife into an Indiana Jones costume (inc bag) for my eldest when he was about 8, the bag is still around.
So, the point of the waffle, basically if you get a leg up, even a small one, make the most of it, enjoy it, don't waste it, make an investment in your future, you don't need mega millions to make a lot of difference, that eight grand, when I was on 32 quid a week as a YTS was like winning a million and to be honest at that age, several million may have done more harm than good, 8 grand was enough that I am still talking about it twenty odd years later.
I watched this documentary recently, was a about the girl who won a million on the euro millions last year, was quite interesting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30452537
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30452537
What I have noticed is that the jackpots are dropping week on week and I believe this is down to many people just stopping playing. When ti started there was the whole 'it could be me!' mentality (despite the likelihood that it will be someone else) but as time has gone on those that have won a pittance compared to how much they've put in or even some that perhaps haven't won anything so they've stopped playing. This has forced Camelot to introduce extra measures such as the price increase and second draw to keep up their end of the bargain in terms of Goodwill causes. I haven't played in years other than the odd Euromillions rollovers and I suspect many people that have played for a long time are considering stopping or trying something else.
J4CKO said:
I would be very wary of going public, I won a car when I was 18 and mainly it was a very positive thing but I did get a bit of resentment of a couple of guys I worked with, nothing to overt, just overheard stuff and got the cold shoulder off one guy, that was just a car, so with several million you could never be sure of some peoples reactions or motives, apart from the people very close to you.
I can well believe that. I used to work for a big company and we had a 6-month long competition where if you hit certain sales targets for a particular day then you won a raffle ticket. At the Christmas party, the raffle was pulled & prizes were given out. Top prize was a Ford Focus & my mate won it. I was made up for her as most people were, but fk me there were some bhy and nasty comments made about her.For those who'd like to know, she didn't actually keep the Focus but did a deal with the Ford garage for them to keep "her" car and give her a year old Puma instead.
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