Statistics question.

xw2lj9uspm1eyh

Or at least I think it's a statistics question sorry Mods if this is in the wrong forum,

Just wondering about the Irish lotto,as the local shopkeeper was on about increasing the odds of winning by buying more lines :rolleyes: (for those that don't know to win the jackpot you need to get 6 numbers out of a possible 45.)

So I checked out the odds and apparently it's 1 in 8 million (rounded off) of winning it.

So my question is if you buy 10 lines for example is your odds reduced to 1 in 800,000 of winning it or is it just that there is 8 million different combinations and you reduced your odds to 1 in 7,999,990.

Hope I made sense

Thanks in advance .

RoundTower

10 in 8 million, which equals 1 in 800,000. Don't buy all your tickets with the same numbers, though!

should "odds of the Lotto" be a sticky? Perhaps a single informative post laying out your expected odds, how big the jackpot should be to make buying a ticket +EV and a brief discussion on the marginal value of money. This could optionally be followed by a dozen condescending posters bleating variations on how "the Lotto is a tax on people who are bad at maths" and a righteous lock of the thread.

LeixlipRed

If someone opens another thread about it again in the near future I'll consider making a superthread. At this moments I'm enjoying Christmas however

FoxT

Buying two tickets with the same numbers is of some benefit .

It means if there is another winner you will get a 2/3 share instead of half.

Clearly of far less benefit than buying tickets with different numbers though.