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To: Graybeard58
Wrong. Bell curves or no. Randomness knows nothing of bell curves.

So...why hasn't the lottery combo 1-2-3-4-5-6 been drawn yet throughout the history of lotteries?

43 posted on 10/19/2005 9:17:29 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
So...why hasn't the lottery combo 1-2-3-4-5-6 been drawn yet throughout the history of lotteries?

In the power ball lottery there are 140 million combos, in other lotteries there are different odds, depending on how many numbers are drawn. In all the different lotteries ever, there are literally billions of combined combos to be drawn. Not every combination hass been drawn because of the sheer volume of combos.

According to the poster of this article the numbers drawn tonight were 7-21-43-44-49 POWERBALL: 29

The odds of those same numbers being drawn in the next power ball drawing are exactly the same as they were for tonight - a figure I have heard is 140,000,000 to 1.

The same odds apply to 1,2,3,4,5,6 and any other combo you can come up with.

50 posted on 10/19/2005 9:26:16 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
So...why hasn't the lottery combo 1-2-3-4-5-6 been drawn yet throughout the history of lotteries?

Look at this way. How many possible combinations are there? How many total drawings have there been? See the problem? Those numbers haven't come up because they simply haven't come up. That is all there is to it. It has nothing to do with them having a different probability than any other combination. It is a mathematical fact that the combination in question is just as likely to come up as any other.

The past cannot be used to predict the future when the exercise is a random one. It is random. The balls and the machine do not know what the prior week's drawing happened to be, even if you do, so the results have to be random by default.

Anybody that tells you otherwise is selling something, or engaging in fantasy. I think the types of things you are looking at is not unlike numerology games. Try hard enough and you can convince yourself that something is there, but it simply isn't.

Now, if you are going to win, better to have less common numbers in your picks, so that you win big - as others have pointed out.

63 posted on 10/19/2005 9:54:05 PM PDT by bluefish (Holding out for worthy tagline...)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I went to the historical data base for powerball and ran a search of 3 sets of numbers. results:

1,2,3,4,5 6 would have won $117 if playes every drawing since 1997

23,24,25,26,27 28 Would have own $103 same time period.

5, 8, 17, 20, 32 32 (my numbers) would have won $81, same time period. can you explain that?


73 posted on 02/16/2006 1:08:48 AM PST by Lokibob (Spelling and typos are copyrighted. Please do not use.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
So...why hasn't the lottery combo 1-2-3-4-5-6 been drawn yet throughout the history of lotteries?

Why hasn't 12-17-37-39-43-45 ever been drawn?

81 posted on 02/17/2006 9:53:24 PM PST by TankerKC (Pull your head out.)
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