The lottery up to a billion now !!!

[MarathonMike]

Any machine or ping pong ball set up can't continue winning this far out against the odds against it is my opinion..... Otherwise the machine keeps winning against the odds of millions upon millions playing against it continually winning, otherwise as they keep losing, so how is the machine (not us), beating those odds ??????

Remember, I'M not talking about the players odds on winning against the machine, but rather I'm talking about the odds against the machine, and it continually winning against the amount of players playing against it.

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

Unless you have calculated those odds, you are not actually operating from any true understanding of the odds, and instead are professing baseless mathematical factoids from your gut.

It's easy to find what the odds on winning the lottery are by googling. It's been many years since I took probability and statistics but if I spent a few minutes I'm sure I could calculate them. If you have a specific problem with anything I explained to Beagle then let's hear it.

 

[beagle9]

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

Unless you have calculated those odds, you are not actually operating from any true understanding of the odds, and instead are professing baseless mathematical factoids from your gut.

It's easy to find what the odds on winning the lottery are by googling. It's been many years since I took probability and statistics but if I spent a few minutes I'm sure I could calculate them. If you have a specific problem with anything I explained to Beagle then let's hear it.

Did you explain to me how that machine is defying the odds against it by not spitting out the winning sequence ??

 

[FJO]

1.6 Billion at last report

Wow!!

That would make a serious dent in my credit card debt!

 

[beagle9]

Nobody won yet ??

 

[OldLady]

Nobody won yet ??

Nope. Drawing Tuesday. 1.6 billion. Cash payout 946 mil.

I could spend it.

 

[beagle9]

Nobody won yet ??

Nope. Drawing Tuesday. 1.6 billion. Cash payout 946 mil.

I could spend it.

Spend it before them conservatives find out you got it eh ??? LOL

 

[Crepitus]

Think of it this way. If you flip 3 nickels, your chances of getting all three to be heads is 8 to 1. But if you flip all 3 nickels 8 times that doesn't mean you WILL get all heads in the 8 tries. I don't know how many lottery tickets were sold last night but if it is more than 300 million, the odds were that someone SHOULD have won but on one did. The more tickets over 300 million sold increases the chances of a matching ticket.

Any machine or ping pong ball set up can't continue winning this far out against the odds against it is my opinion..... Otherwise the machine keeps winning against the odds of millions upon millions playing against it continually winning, otherwise as they keep losing, so how is the machine (not us), beating those odds ??????

Remember, I'M not talking about the players odds on winning against the machine, but rather I'm talking about the odds against the machine, and it continually winning against the amount of players playing against it.

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

.
If I bought 300,000,000 lottery tickets covering all possible combinations of numbers...and it took me 5 seconds to buy one ticket, it would take...um...carry the 5...um 1,578.29 days to buy all those tickets.

Or about four and a half years if I needed a few potty breaks.

That's why you need a couple.of thousand people buying tickets for ya.

 

[Crepitus]

I broke my own rules and bought a ticket.

I saw a guy get struck by lighting 3 times in a row on TV the other night, so I figured what the hell, it's only $2.00.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Lottery...
Biggest winner is government.

Hilarious that I still can't play online poker where some amount of skill is required , but the government is encouraging gambling in a pure suckers bet.

I never play as it would be more statistically believable that I would get struck by lightening and hit by a meteorite simultaneously.

In the past few weeks, my county has had 3 $1 million winners.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Think of it this way. If you flip 3 nickels, your chances of getting all three to be heads is 8 to 1. But if you flip all 3 nickels 8 times that doesn't mean you WILL get all heads in the 8 tries. I don't know how many lottery tickets were sold last night but if it is more than 300 million, the odds were that someone SHOULD have won but on one did. The more tickets over 300 million sold increases the chances of a matching ticket.

Any machine or ping pong ball set up can't continue winning this far out against the odds against it is my opinion..... Otherwise the machine keeps winning against the odds of millions upon millions playing against it continually winning, otherwise as they keep losing, so how is the machine (not us), beating those odds ??????

Remember, I'M not talking about the players odds on winning against the machine, but rather I'm talking about the odds against the machine, and it continually winning against the amount of players playing against it.

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

No offense, but that is because most people are bad at math.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

How is the machine holding out against such odds

You just answered your own question:

Because these are odds, not certainties. It is well within reason that nobody wins for 100 more cycles.

No, how does the machine keep winning against the odds against it ?????

What odds are those? See, you can't declare them low or impossible, when you don't even know what they are.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

Unless you have calculated those odds, you are not actually operating from any true understanding of the odds, and instead are professing baseless mathematical factoids from your gut.

It's easy to find what the odds on winning the lottery are by googling. It's been many years since I took probability and statistics but if I spent a few minutes I'm sure I could calculate them. If you have a specific problem with anything I explained to Beagle then let's hear it.

He wasn't asking about, nor was I commenting on, the odds of a person winning the lottery. He is commenting on the odds of nobody winning the lottery.

 

[edward37]

What I can't figure out is this...... If the odds are so great against we the individual/people winning the mega, and all due to millions upon millions of people playing, then how about if we reverse that in order to ask ourselves this, "how is the computer playing against the same odds, and then not pushing that winning number out against those millions holding a sequence of numbers that could win after a drawing is made" ?????????

Ok, if a computer is not involved, and it's just that little ball machine that uses air to force the little balls up into the holder for the read, then how is it beating those kinds of odds against it pumping out the winning sequence as well ???

Got me scratching my head now.

Anyone ???

Just know the odds for winning are greater than the odds for you winning the presidency

 

[beagle9]

Any machine or ping pong ball set up can't continue winning this far out against the odds against it is my opinion..... Otherwise the machine keeps winning against the odds of millions upon millions playing against it continually winning, otherwise as they keep losing, so how is the machine (not us), beating those odds ??????

Remember, I'M not talking about the players odds on winning against the machine, but rather I'm talking about the odds against the machine, and it continually winning against the amount of players playing against it.

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

No offense, but that is because most people are bad at math.

Has nothing to do with the people being bad at math... You misunderstood what I am saying... How is the machine winning against the odds of it not spitting out the winning sequence against millions holding tickets/sequences ?? Yes our odds are bad for sure, but the odds the machine or apparatus that produces the winning sequence is dealing with should have forced it's hand by now.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Yes our odds are bad for sure, but the odds the machine or apparatus that produces the winning sequence is dealing with should have forced it's hand by now.

But you still don't have those odds in hand...

 

[beagle9]

What I can't figure out is this...... If the odds are so great against we the individual/people winning the mega, and all due to millions upon millions of people playing, then how about if we reverse that in order to ask ourselves this, "how is the computer playing against the same odds, and then not pushing that winning number out against those millions holding a sequence of numbers that could win after a drawing is made" ?????????

Ok, if a computer is not involved, and it's just that little ball machine that uses air to force the little balls up into the holder for the read, then how is it beating those kinds of odds against it pumping out the winning sequence as well ???

Got me scratching my head now.

Anyone ???

Just know the odds for winning are greater than the odds for you winning the presidency

Ok, say I'm the machine producing the sequences against 1000 players playing against me in hopes I will produce that sequence for them , and so I am producing random numbers to throw against their tickets held. Well it is that I could very easily avoid throwing out a winning sequence against those kinds of odds playing against me right ? Now what if the thousand grows to millions upon millions playing against me in hopes of me dealing to them a winning sequence ?? Seems the odds would be in their favor of me coughing up the winning sequence don't you think ??

So how does a lottery swell up to billions against these kinds of odds playing against the machine like this ??

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

against these kinds of odds

For the love of God...WHAT ODDS?

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

But we don't have any reason to believe that this ping pong ball machine is any less "random" then a computer algorithm designed to shoose numbers at random. Studies have been done on this, and especially so by those who want the lottery to go away. Despite their desire for the study to show a bias, the studies did not show this.

Furthermore, even computer random number generators (RNGs) are not truly random, and instead approximate randomness. One can make a strong argument that the physics of these balls arranged in a different starting configuration each time and bouncing off of each other unpredictably is even more random than these computer algorithms.

Just like with us as ticket holders, it's all about the odds against us when playing, but I can't figure out how the machine is holding out against the odds it's playing against as well.

Well,considering the odds are still stacked against everyone, it wouldn't be beyond reason for the power Ball to go 1000 more weeks without a winner. What should be more surprising is that anyone ever wins at all. They only way we overcome these 300,000,000 to 1 odds is by sheer carpet bombing. And even then, I don't believe it has ever been the case that anything even approaching all 300,000,000 combinations have been chosen in any cycle.

The odds against the machine not spitting out a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding various sequences against it, makes it highly suspect to me.

No offense, but that is because most people are bad at math.

Has nothing to do with the people being bad at math... You misunderstood what I am saying... How is the machine winning against the odds of it not spitting out the winning sequence against millions holding tickets/sequences ?? Yes our odds are bad for sure, but the odds the machine or apparatus that produces the winning sequence is dealing with should have forced it's hand by now.

Yes, it does have to do with people being bad at math, namely people like you apparently.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions is 1 in 320 million plus. If you sold 320 million plus different tickets, that would guarantee a winner. That doesn't happen, so the odds of it rolling over is effected by how many people choose the same numbers, which would vary for each drawing. Say that there were only 80 million different combinations chosen out of the 320 million plus possible combinations, that introduces another factor of about 1 in 4 that the jackpot will not roll over.

 

[beagle9]

Yes our odds are bad for sure, but the odds the machine or apparatus that produces the winning sequence is dealing with should have forced it's hand by now.

But you still don't have those odds in hand...

You still aren't getting what I'm saying here.

It has nothing to do with any of us winning.

I just can't figure how the machine is winning by not producing a winning sequence against millions upon millions holding tickets with probably every sequence imaginable being out there by now ??

 

[saveliberty]

Yes, it does have to do with people being bad at math, namely people like you apparently.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions is 1 in 320 million plus. If you sold 320 million plus different tickets, that would guarantee a winner. That doesn't happen, so the odds of it rolling over is effected by how many people choose the same numbers, which would vary for each drawing. Say that there were only 80 million different combinations chosen out of the 320 million plus possible combinations, that introduces another factor of about 1 in 4 that the jackpot will not roll over.

Your example does not have to result in a guaranteed winner as you suggest. Probability does not work that way. If all possible combinations of numbers are purchased, that would result in a winner.