Talk:Lottery

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[edit] Highest purses?

what are the highest purses won? Kingturtle 17:11 17 May 2003 (UTC)

[edit] EuroMillions

The EuroMillions lottery is played in multiple European countries. France, England, Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg, Zwitserland, Portugal, Ierland and Ostenreich are thought to take part.

To win, you need to select 7 balls (5 regular balls and 2 'powerballs') - and there 50 balls in total.

To win the "big ticket" you have to have the 5 numbers and the 2 powerbal numbers right. The chance that you win the jackpot is 1 tot 76 275 360. It is possible that in the future there will be more countries who will play the game, increasing the jackpots.

The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland are the countries that take part in the "Euromillions" lottery.

[edit] Canada's two "national lotteries"

Are Canada's two "national lotteries" really "national"? Seems to me they are just run by associations of provincial lotteries, much like the state lottery associations (like Powerball) in the USA. Already the great majority of US population lives in Powerball states—if every state had a Powerball-associated lottery, would Powerball be a national lottery? To me the term "national" implies that is run by the federal government. (Which might be unconstitutional as things stand in the States.) NTK 18:30, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

  • A good point; I have changed this to "nation-wide" and also did some minor changes to the prior paragraph about the prior truly national lottery. Beyond this, I have a more major concern that this article focusses only on the official widespread Lotteries with little or no space for lotteries in general, eg, types of lotteries, informal lotteries at the level of communities or service clubs, etc. If I were starting from scratch I'd move this whole article to something like "Current major regional lotteries" and have a more general "Lottery" article...but I don't have the scope to do that myself right now. Sharkford 15:15, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
  • "To me the term 'national' implies that is run by the federal government." I think that's a limiting definition. Lotto 6/49 is played in every jurisdiction in Canada and is administered by a public corporation formed by the lottery commissions of every province and territory (the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation). Typically, governments in Canada form public corporations for these kinds of activities, and federal programs are frequently designed through meetings of the provincial premiers, outside of the federal legislative houses. Your definition might be suitable for most countries but it would make it impossible to describe almost anything in Canada as "national," (including our "national" health care). --Tedd (talk) 17:24, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mexican lottery info wanted

I would like to know more about the format and history of the Mexican lottery. Traditional images would be great too.--IainCheyne

[edit] Vanishingly small?

Sure, to win a Powerball jackpot. But there other smaller jackpot games with much easier odds, like Cash 5 here in Pennsylvania. The odds are about 1 in 575,595, not good odds, but not "vanishingly small". For that reason I have to put the objectivity of this article in question.

Odds for Cash 5 in Virginia are 1 in 278,256.

[edit] The info here is only half full

The first line of the article seems to be very shallow. Well, though it ("lots") is the basic idea maybe the intro could be a bit more detailed. The word Lotto isn't explained in detail to differentiate it from the lottery ticket. I guess I could fill in the gaps but someone else can also help. Also do we need the list of countries with lotteries at the top? Can we introduce a section on wheeling systems and expand on it? I know something on wheeling but an expert hand on this would be good. Tx Idleguy 19:51, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Odds and Winnings

Any game which picks x amount of numbers from a to b is a lottery.

The difference between lotteries however, has to do with the payout amount for each.

For example, if you're running a lottery, you generally won't let people match any one number, because too many people will win.

The people who run the lotteries have the ability to shift up or down the level of prizes involved for each one, and they do it in their favor.

A top down lottery, is one in which the odds are made significantly difficult (some weeks no one wins) with six or seven numbers so that eventually one person will win a huge prize. One thing worth arguing over is that if you buy a $2 ticket you should expect some one to win a prize that week. Putting the money into the next weeks jackpot assumes that you will buy a ticket the next week, which is not always the case.

A bottom up lottery would be one in which most of the prizes are distributed to the bottom end of the lottery, with the remainder going to winners with more numbers. This system seems inherently more fair, although the prizes would not be as good. But in a draw where no one wins, do you really care how big the prizes are? At least more people would be satisfied.

LotteryOhYah 03:07, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

"But in a draw where no one wins, do you really care how big the prizes are?" That ignores the marketing aspect of the game. The allure of a huge (potential) prize probably draws a lot of players — perhaps even most of them. I think marketing also explains why most of the games use numbers. A game like Lotto 6/49 would be exactly the same game if you were asked to choose six from a list of 49 fruits and vegetables, instead of six from a list of 49 numbers. But virtually all the games use numbers, probably in part because a game without numbers would diminish the illusion that there's some significance to the different combinations. A quick perusal of lottery web sites — and even this discussion page — shows that a lot of people enjoy speculating about patterns and probabilities, even if most of that speculation is mathematically unfounded. The numbers make that possible. --Tedd (talk) 17:06, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

People being unsatisfied by the Lottery, prizes, and odds doesn't seem to stop them from playing. If you're not satisfied or if you think it's crooked, then the obvious answer is "DON'T PLAY!"; it's as simple as that, if you think about it, but people still play.

[edit] Largest Prizes

The $363m Mega Millions jackpot was actually bigger than the $365m Powerball Jackpot because of how the prizes are paid. Because of the structure of the annuities, Mega Millions annuities are worth about 55% of the advertised prize, but Powerball jackpots are worth about 46%. So the MM jackpot was about $30m bigger, in real dollars. 70.22.209.192 09:57, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

In Europe, as the prizes are paid tax free, they are worth 100% of the advertised prize, so on an after tax basis, the Euromillions €183m is bigger than both :) I've added the figures in $ and £ (based on exchange rate on that day), which values it at $220m, about $20m bigger than 55% of $363. The tax situation is mentioned in the article, but it might be worth adding in the notes section for the taxable prizes how much the winner actually got, unless it would make the table too detailed, do you know off hand how many took it as a lump sum vs annuity, and if those figures are easily available? MartinRe 10:54, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes. How much tax is taken in the US lotteries? Seems to be a significant issue. In Australia winning are tax free. (Greg)

To answer the question above (Greg), Lottery winnings in the US are considered "taxable income." In Virginia, if any one of your tickets is $5001 or higher it is taxed at a rate of 25% Federal and 4% State immediately. If your ticket is $5000 or less, a W2 form is issued that would be filed with the next tax return. With that said, 25% and 4% are the MINIMUM tax deductions. Since the prizes are taxable income, depending on what your income for the year is, you could owe more than the minimum. Someone making a grand total, salary plus lottery winnings, of $30,000 for the year is going to pay less in taxes than the person who made $250,000 for the year. However, taxes owed by Lottery winnings can be written off by submitting losing tickets to off-set the taxes owed. If you've won $5,000 for the year submit $5,000 worth in losing tickets, and you won't have to pay a dime. The money you put into the Lottery in Virginia is considered a donation, in a sense, because it is contributed to the K-12 Education Program.

[edit] Who deletes contributions - and why?

  • I posted today on Wikipedia pages related to lottery, true random numbers generating, and, especially, the mathematics of lottery. I even offered free source code to generate true and unique random numbers.

I also offered one-of-a-kind links to free lottery software and systems. Moreover, I posted thorough but concise formulae to calculate lotto odds with the hypergeometric distribution probability. Such formulae are a must when it comes to an encyclopedic analysis of lottery.

Everything I posted was deleted shortly thereafter. Why?

My contributions showed absolutely unique theories. Not only that, but they have the most solid foundation: philosophical and mathematical. As Plato put it:

”Let no one enter here who is ignorant of mathematics”

Is it jealousy or does it represent a conflict of interest? Does the management at Wikipedia accept such behavior from editors who so easily delete original contributions?

Ion Saliu

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a place to post your own theories. See Wikipedia:No original research. andy 19:18, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
I've run into this issue before where my mathematical contributions were deleted, so I empathize with you somewhat. Please try getting correct references for the info you posted. If your research is original and useful as you say, it is probably worth publishing somewhere first. --Amit 06:09, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] lottery as a system

This could do with a better scope. The Ancient Greeks chose some of their offices by lottery rather by election (this was seen as more democratic to avoid the effects of plutocracy). If you spend this much on your credit card you could in this prize, or submit your donation to the National Kidney Foundation or whatnot. Things like that. Not merely buying a lottery ticket. John Riemann Soong 00:22, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

That's true. Prize lotteries aren't the only kind. In modern times lotteries are used to pick people for jury service and were used in the US to pick conscripts for the Vietnam war. They have also been suggested as an alternative -- and fairer -- method of electing representatives in modern democracies. You wouldn't know that from reading the article though. -- Derek Ross | Talk 17:42, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rationality and lottery players

It may not alway be irrational for someone to play in a lottery even though the expected winnings are much lower than the price of the ticket because of the utility of money. The loss of one dollar might have only a tiny impact on one's life, while gaining millions of dollars would have a huge impact. The difference in impact might be greater than the odds of winning. The article has a very negative POV towards those who play the lottery and this might add some neutality to the article. This is explored in H.W. Lewis' book "Why Flip a Coin?: The Art and Science of Good Decisions." I don't have the book handy so I don't feel like trying to include his thoughts to the article.

I would also like to add, that this article seems to stress that the reward will be far less than what people think. Its true, Taxes and taking the Lump Sum will reduce the amount of money receaved, but for someone who has no money, 500,000 can seem like a billion dollars. And what they win is far more than they had previously (Unless your a senator). If a lottery winner is smart, they will hire a Tax Lawyer to take out the tax, then they will hire an accountant or go to a Bank and let them help with Investments and home buying etc. It also helps to move away...Move far away so your reletaves will not beg you constantly for money. And Change your name too...Magnum Serpentine 03:46, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the above comments, but even they miss the point, it seems to me. I rarely buy lottery tickets (perhaps three or four over a thirty-year period), but I know many people who buy them regularly and my impression is that, for them, it's cheap entertainment. For a buck they get to dream about winning, joke about it with their friends, and enjoy the anticipation of the gamble, sometimes for days. That's an entirely rational choice on its own, quite apart from the odds or the size of the prize. I think that's why lots of scientists, engineers, and other people who are fully capable of calculating the odds buy tickets. --Tedd (talk) 16:57, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Negative consequences of winning the lottery

This section needs references.

I would agree - "Generally they squander it and wind up worse off than before winning" - is biased and non factual. Pure opinion.

[edit] History of Australian Lottery

I would have put this in the Australian Lottery section except that the history of other lotteries are also in this section (eg NZ, France, so on) I know that there is a rich and interesting history of national lotteries and so on in Australia: for example the Sydney Opera House had a good deal of its' overflow paid for by lotteries, though I haven't references other than first hand comments from people who bought tickets. Can't find any information on all that in the wikipedia though, and don't know enough about it to add my own.Thisfox 00:26, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Men Vs. Women

I had heard a rumor that men win the lottery more than women - and no one knows why. But whats worse is that the margin was beyond scientific explanation.

Can anyone verify this?

71.201.95.224 15:26, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Men play it more. There is no statistical reason why one sex would be more likely to win than other, unless they buy more tickets. Rob.derosa 06:36, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Just a thought of mine, but could it be that women are more likely to pick "birthdays" rather than any random numbers, thus limiting themselves to the first 31 numbers?
This could affect the amount won (because they would be more likely to have to share the jackpot with other birthday-players), but not the odds of winning. Any ticket has the same chance of winning. 67.185.114.32 23:28, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
Assuming this is true, keep in mind that random chance is always a possible explanation. Rob could very well be right, but the very premise of the question is flawed. If something is possible, then it is not "beyond scientific explanation" no matter how improbable it seems. Imagine flipping a coin 1,000 times and always getting heads. It's highly improbable, but it would in no way be "beyond scientific explanation" as there is no law of nature that would force it to land as tails, no matter how many times it had previously landed as heads. Likewise, there is no law of nature that would force a female win, no matter how large the percentage of previous male wins were. --Icarus (Hi!) 03:21, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 100 versus 1

Would you be better of buying 1 ticket every drawing or waiting and buy 100 tickets every 100 drawings? I'm guessing going big once in awhile is better. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.206.165.13 (talk) 08:57, 4 February 2007 (UTC).

0 out of 0 because they take half your money either way. Sagittarian Milky Way 17:53, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
You're better off to buy 100 tickets on 1 draw than to buy 1 ticket on 100 draws. To see how this works, consider a very simple lottery where you pick one of nine numbers. For a single ticket you have 8 chances in 9 of losing. If you buy one ticket on two separate draws your combined chance of losing is 8/9 times 8/9, or 0.790, which means that your combined chance of winning is 1-0.790 or 0.210. However, if you were to buy two tickets on one draw your chance of losing would be 7/9, making your chance of winning 1-7/9, or 0.222 — slightly greater. For a real-world lottery the improvement in the odds of winning is very small, though. For example, in the Canadian Lotto 6/49, where you choose 6 numbers out of 49, your odds of winning are 1 in 13,983,816. There are about 100 draws in a year (twice a week). If you play one ticket for each of the 100 draws your combined odds of winning are about 1 in 139,839. If you buy 100 tickets on a single draw (and skip the rest) your odds of winning are about 1 in 139,838. So the difference is very, very small.--Tedd (talk) 17:58, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Largest UK jackpot win

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this info, and I apologise if its not, but I've spotted a possible mistake. According to http://www.playuklottery.com/languages/eng/uklottery.asp the largest individual UK jackpot win was £22,590,829 which was won on 10th June 1995 and not the £20.1m that is listed. Perhaps someone can look into it as its an interesting stat and would be good to get the right info. MG

[edit] Sport

What is the name for sport lottery ( sports betting, betting pool,...). I.e. lottery based on football results.

[edit] Images

I think this needs some images, if wanted, I could find some 6/49 tickets or Scratch 'N Win tickets and scan them to put on this site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.129.239.143 (talk) 03:29, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Italicise names of lotteries?

I have checked a few style manuals and it seems that names of lotteries are not normally italicised. I'll do some clean up. Nurg (talk) 03:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)