What are the odds of winning the lotto twice?

tommy21 · 15-02-2011 07:06PM #1

Just heard on newstalk that some lucky dub had picked up a cool half mil after winning 2.5mill a few years ago. I can't help but feel a little bitter...

What are the odds of this?!

orourkeda · 15-02-2011 07:07PM

remote

8145060 to 1 to do it once.

Jimmy the Wheel · 15-02-2011 07:08PM

The odds of winning it once, multiplied by two, minus one.

(i think)

Wibbs · 15-02-2011 07:10PM

Apparently not that remote. I recall reading somewhere before that you've a slightly higher chance of winning the lotto if you've won it before. I know someone who won it twice myself. Not huge money, but a couple of 100 thou(I know that's loads, but not, "Im buying a small island in the far east, building my own rockets and if that cnut Bond shows up, I'm shooting him in the face on sight" money)

J K · 15-02-2011 07:19PM

8145060 x 8145060

66342002403600 to one.

Actually the question makes no sense, how many draws are entered, how many lines are bought, over what period of time etc

tommy21 · 15-02-2011 07:20PM

J K wrote: »

8145060 x 8145060

66342002403600 to one.

Actually the question makes no sense, how many draws are entered, how many lines are bought, over what period of time etc

True.

starbelgrade · 15-02-2011 07:21PM

I heard that he won €2.3 million the first time round and €0.5 million this time.

It'd be funny if he spent the entire €2.3 million on lottery tickets to get the second win.

J K · 15-02-2011 07:34PM

A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon your talking real money.

sandmanporto · 15-02-2011 07:45PM

tommy21 wrote: »

Just heard on newstalk that some lucky dub had picked up a cool half mil after winning 2.5mill a few years ago. I can't help but feel a little bitter...

What are the odds of this?!

It could be YOU!!!

123balltv · 15-02-2011 07:53PM

if your not in you cant win

maglite · 15-02-2011 07:57PM

8,145,060 to one

Each event is independent of the other.

J K · 15-02-2011 08:14PM

maglite wrote: »

Each event is independent of the other.

They are not necessarily independent. You can look at a sequence of events and calculate the probability of a particular outcome.

If the question were - a person plays for ten weeks. 10 draws. They buy one line in each draw. At the end of the 10 draws what are the odds that the person has won two jackpots.

Jimmy the Wheel · 15-02-2011 08:14PM

maglite wrote: »

8,145,060 to one

Each event is independent of the other.

But the odds are accumulated, in figuring if the same person can do it twice.

15-02-2011 08:16PM

A guy who used to work in my place won it twice. And he was super rich to begin with

Blisterman · 15-02-2011 08:57PM

J K wrote: »

8145060 x 8145060

66342002403600 to one.

Actually the question makes no sense, how many draws are entered, how many lines are bought, over what period of time etc

Lets see if I can remember my leaving cert probablity..

As every line he buys increases his odds of winning,

It's 66342002403600 divided by the number of entries bought in total.

Say he bought 1,000 lines in his years of playing the lotto, it's 1 in 66,342,002,403.6/1 For one person or just over sixty billion to one.

That's just the odds for an individual. As about a million people play the lotto, the odds of this ever happening reduces to about 60 thousand to one.

Still impressively rare.

fabbydabby · 15-02-2011 09:05PM

Saying the odds are x to one is kinda misleading since this format does not represent a probability. Odds of two to one equals a probability of 1/3.

Also, the statement that they are independant events isn't strictly true. Asking the odds of winning it twice means they are not. The odds of winning it twice are simply the odds of winning it once, squared.

But if you asked the question, what are the odds of winning the lotto, having won it already, then of course the events are independant and the odds are the same.

But as JK said it's a bollcks question with no clear answer... theres no mention of lotto plus, or matching five and the bonus, or mutiple lines etc

the lotto is a sh!t investment anyway

Crasp · 15-02-2011 09:07PM

when you come up with an anwser, I want to use that figure as my lotto numbers

double GG · 15-02-2011 09:11PM

It'll never happen.

alastair · 15-02-2011 09:11PM

What are the odds of not winning twice?

I've only played the once and I'll be damned if I'll buy another ticket if I'm not going to win again.

xoxyx · 15-02-2011 09:16PM

The odds of winning the Lotto twice are the same as winning the Lotto once.

The chances of a certain set of numbers coming up is the same every week. The fact of a person having those numbers doesn't come into it!

Same way as the odds of throwing a red number 3 at roulette once, doesn't affect the odds of that same number coming up again on the next throw.

It's a random occurrence every time. Past plays don't come into it!

Fart · 15-02-2011 09:31PM

Well... I plan on winning the Euromillions this Friday.

The odds are: Either I will or I won't.

u140acro3xs7dm · 15-02-2011 09:35PM

If you won 2.5 mil would you keep doing the lotto? sounds like a scabby fúck

Aodan83 · 15-02-2011 09:37PM

Well if you can do it once, you can do it again, right?
The odds don't change though, the draws are all mutually exclusive, so one outcome will have no effect on the others.

Fart · 15-02-2011 09:38PM

Lola Damaged Hay wrote: »

If you won 2.5 mil would you keep doing the lotto? sounds like a scabby fúck

Ooooh, someone has never won the Lotto.

adamski8 · 15-02-2011 09:39PM

xoxyx wrote: »

The odds of winning the Lotto twice are the same as winning the Lotto once.
!

by that logic i have the same chance of winning every single lottery ever as 1 lotto draw

sdanseo · 15-02-2011 09:44PM

sandmanporto wrote: »

It could be YOU!!!

Just checked, it wasn't. Liar.

WesternNight · 15-02-2011 09:47PM

xoxyx wrote: »

The odds of winning the Lotto twice are the same as winning the Lotto once.

The chances of a certain set of numbers coming up is the same every week. The fact of a person having those numbers doesn't come into it!

Same way as the odds of throwing a red number 3 at roulette once, doesn't affect the odds of that same number coming up again on the next throw.

It's a random occurrence every time. Past plays don't come into it!

This.

alastair · 15-02-2011 09:48PM

adamski8 wrote: »

by that logic i have the same chance of winning every single lottery ever as 1 lotto draw

You do.

WesternNight · 15-02-2011 09:50PM

adamski8 wrote: »

by that logic i have the same chance of winning every single lottery ever as 1 lotto draw

Yep, you do.

The lottery doesn't magically remember who won and who didn't.

Abelloid · 15-02-2011 09:50PM

xoxyx wrote: »

The odds of winning the Lotto twice are the same as winning the Lotto once.

The chances of a certain set of numbers coming up is the same every week. The fact of a person having those numbers doesn't come into it!

Same way as the odds of throwing a red number 3 at roulette once, doesn't affect the odds of that same number coming up again on the next throw.

It's a random occurrence every time. Past plays don't come into it!

That's what I would have thought too.

sparkthatbled · 15-02-2011 09:56PM

I remember hearing what might have been one of those 'friend of a friend told me' stories with no substance. It went that a doctor living in Donnybrook who entered the lottery for the hell of it won the jackpot twice (it being the days when the jackpot was rarely above 2mil). Dunno if it's true but it sure angries up the blood when you're paying off a €500 credit card bill in instalments!

What are the odds of winning the lotto twice?

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