What Are The Chances of Getting a Six (and what does that have to do with the lottery anyway!)?

[Q] My friend reckons if he buys one ticket, his odds of winning the lottery jackpot are about 1-in-14 million. He says if he buys just one ticket in his lifetime, the odds are exactly the same as if he wastes money on buying a ticket every week. Is he right?

[A] No.

Simplify it to dice. Always seems easier with dice :-)

Let's say somebody was offering you and your friend a million bucks if you could throw a 6. Only snag is, one of you gets to have 1,000 throws of the dice, the other only gets one throw. Would your friend really let you have the 1,000 throws without the slightest complaint..?

The chances of getting a 6 in one throw are 1/6.

For two throws, there are three ways to get a six:
[1] First throw IS a six, second throw NOT a six
[2] First throw NOT a six, second throw IS a six
[3] Both throws are a six.

Chances of [1] are 1/6 x 5/6 = 5/36
(i.e. 1-in-6 chance of getting the 6, then 5-in-6 of getting anything but a six)
Chances of [2] are 5/6 x 1/6 = 5/36
Chances of [3] are 1/6 x 1/6 = 1/36

Total chance of getting at least one six in two throws of the dice is therefore 11/36, or just over 30%.

The formula for rolling at least one 6 in n rolls is: 1 - (5/6)^n

So even just 20 throws gives you a 97% chance of a 6 :-)

Bonus UK Lotto Jackpot Draw - Saturday 27 April

This Saturday the UK Lotto is giving all players an extra bonus.

Every ticket bought for the main draw this Saturday, will also be entered into a second Jackpot Only draw. As the name suggests the only prize will be the jackpot of £5 Million (for matching all 6 numbers).

If you've been saving up some entries to maximise chances, this draw is a good time to play - double your jackpot chances at no extra cost.

You can get in on this UK draw with my favourite UK syndicate if you move fast (your share of 44 entries will only cost £2-50).

The New Monday Charities Lottery in the UK

A new lottery has now arrived in the UK. The first draw is set to take place on 8th May 2006.

monday - The Charities Lottery is being launched by Chariot, a company set up in order to provide a 'fairer' lottery, that also pays more to charity. The UK National Lottery supports many good causes, but has received much criticism for some donations that didn't meet with the popular media idea of 'a good cause'.

The new game will be a Monday night draw, hence the games name... 'monday'. The jackpot will be capped at £200,000, but there will be no rollovers because there will be a guaranteed winner every week. If no-one matches 6 balls to win the jackpot, then the person nearest to winning will get the jackpot!

The type of game hasn't been announced, but Chariot say the jackpot odds will be better than for the UK Lotto.

Charity is a big focus of the game, and charities will received 30p for every £1 spent.

monday is to be an online only game, available from www.playmonday.com

Euro Millions Rollover Getting Big...

If you've been keeping an eye out, you'll have noticed that Euro Millions Rollover jackpot is getting big again. This Friday it's up to 75 millions Euros again.

(If you're going to play Euro Millions, play in a syndicate as the odds are high - and you'll still get a few million each with a jackpot this big!)

Lottery Winner or Greedy Victim?

"My name is Dora, and i have recieved a letter along with a check stating that I've come in 3rd place in the lottery drawing that took place on 3/17/2006. My reference number is ABDW 10/665RG8 and my winner number is 0087475. On this letter it stated to get in touch with David Rogers of Imperial Financial Management Group. I've made several attempts of trying to reach this person and have been unsuccessful. When I call, I get a voice message that says leave your name and reference number and someone will return your call, but at the end of the call it says no more room for messages. What can I do to claim my winnings from EURO LOTTERY. My home number is 770-xxx-xxxx, please respond by call me or email me at xxx. Thanks"

Is it greed? Is it desperation? Why would anyone believe this is real!

You've not heard of the lottery, you've certainly never bought a ticket - you couldn't have, it doesn't exist.

You get a letter to say you've won - but when did you ever give out your name and address when buying a lottery ticket..?

You've tried to contact them but the cell phone isn't picking up, so you try the yahoo.com email address - real lottery companies are not hard to get hold of! And they certainly don't use free email addresses!

You've banked the cheque but you're not sure how to send the payment to process your claim... WHAT? How can that make any sense at all, why would they send you a cheque, and then ask you for money to process a claim! That's insane. This is where greed really takes over common sense. That cheque is stolen or fake, it will bounce (eventually) leaving you out of pocket. And what lottery would EVER ask you to pay money to receive a prize, that's just so dumb.

These scammers only exist because there are enough people around who are desperate enough or greedy enough to believe their feeble lies. Please don't be one of them.