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To: oust the louse

I am surprised the house is not playing


15 posted on 01/10/2016 8:03:46 AM PST by Nailbiter
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To: Nailbiter
I am surprised the house is not playing

It would cost you $584,402,676 (292,201,338 x 2) to cover all possible outcomes, with an estimated $1,300,000,000 jackpot, worth about $800,000,000 in real money ("cash value"), something like a 7:5 favorable odds, if you are the sole winner. (Your contribution might bump the jackpot up enough to make it 2:1 favorable.) As a professional gambler, you could deduct the $584,402,676 from your winnings for tax purposes.

There are spoilers. There is no way to make "wild card" plays, i.e., play more than one combination on one play. The game is deliberately designed to be played retail instead of wholesale to keep out vultures who might swoop in on an unclaimed pot. Paying agents to purchase the tickets for you runs all kinds of risks and expenses and might not even be legal.

If it were possible to play "wholesale" to scoop up entire tranches of plays, including "all", as soon as a second player made that play, the bet has a negative expectation value.

If you are going to play -- and for small players the current situation seems to offer favorable odds -- avoid numbers lower than 31. If you win, you want to be the sole winner. You do not want to compete with people's birthdays and anniversaries. Something like 32 33 34 35 36 + power ball = your birthday might seem plausible, but too many other lazy people are going to make the same calculations. Pick five random numbers, all greater than 31. Avoid repeated digits (33, 44, 55,...), prime numbers (37, 41, 43, 47), much as I love them, or anything else that might attract competing bets. Doing so enhances you odds of being the sole winner.

And have fun, but don't quit your day job or bet the house.

54 posted on 01/10/2016 9:18:54 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Islam is the greened eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds upon.)
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