2008-03-19 draw results and prize

[robertlanglois]

The latest results were interesting! I like it.

23 40 41 42 44 45 - Bonus 43

What's interesting as well is the prizes. No one won the jackpot but 239 tickets were sold with a 5+B winning combination. Normally, with such a "small" jackpot (3.5 million), only 2 or 3 maybe 4 tickets like these are sold. When the jackpot increases to 15 million or more, we could get maybe 15 tickets sold with the winning 5+B combination.

What this means is that the winners are dividing their winnings! With only four 5+B winning tickets, the prize would be around $70,000 or so. But this time, with 239 winners, each ticket is worth $1,200. That's a big difference.

My guess is a lot of people play the 40 41 42 43 44 45 combination and it worked for them this time... but the winnings are really small compared to what they would be.

When people say not to play popular combinations like birthdays or the "1 2 3 4 5 6" combination... I guess they're right. Too many people play them and when they finally come out, you win but not much. It's very hard and very rare to get 5+B... when you finally do it, it must be a disappointment to win "only" $1,200$

 

[GillesD]

Interesting situation with prizes

... What's interesting as well is the prizes. No one won the jackpot but 239 tickets were sold with a 5+B winning combination.
...
But this time, with 239 winners, each ticket is worth $1,200. That's a big difference.

But even more intersting is the amount won by those with "only" 5 winning numbers, not having the bonus number. They get $2,220. So having the bonus number make you lose more than $1,000.

So the question is: can you go to the lottery commission and tell them to forget about the bonus number on your ticket and pay you only for 5 winning numbers?

I raised the point some time ago for a draw with a large number of winners with 3 numbers, thus diluting the pool money for 4 or more winners. At that time, I was more talking about a theorical possibility but it is a real situation in this case.

 

[yiyi2780]

Interesting result here in Singapore today(20-3-2008) too:
1,7,9,11,15,41, BB 42 and no winner and 17 winners of 5+.

 

[robertlanglois]

Hi Gilles.

I didn't even notice that. You're right. This is one of those times when you don't want to have the winning number in your combination. I don't think you can ask the lottery commission to forget the bonus number. The rules say you win this amount when you get 5 numbers right + the bonus so that's it.

It's a good thing that it doesn't happen to often.

 

[mightyman]

Similar draw 61 weeks ago. But payout completely different.

Jan/20/2007 24 40 45 47 48 49 bonus 07

This is why some play decades.

 

[mightyman]

239 people share second prize in Lotto 6-49 draw

Updated Thu. Mar. 20 2008 10:05 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

What some are calling a mathematical fluke led to smaller-than-expected payouts for 239 second-prize winners of Wednesday's Lotto 6-49.

The jackpot for the draw was $3.99 million, but no one got all six numbers and the bonus to claim the biggest prize for the night.

But 239 tickets got five of the six winning numbers, along with the bonus. Those tickets were good enough for second prize. Had there only been one second prize ticket, however, the ticket-holder would have won more than $285,000. Instead, 239 people will split the cash and claim just under $1,100 a piece.

The winning numbers were 23, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, and the bonus number was 43.

The set of numbers is interesting because other than the first number, it rises sequentially from 40 to 45.

"People tend to disbelieve that six numbers in a row would ever come up," says Carl Schwarz, a statistician at Simon Fraser University.

"(But) every set of six numbers has exactly the same chance of coming up. So, there's nothing statistically odd about picking six numbers. It's the psychology."

Don Pister, a spokesman for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, says Wednesday's results are unusual for the number of winners. But he said a player's odds don't improve or decline based on the numbers he or she chooses.

"6-49 draw results are determined solely by random chance, so every set of possible six numbers coming has exactly the same chance as any other set,'' he said.

Tom Salisbury, a professor of mathematics and statistics at York University, says future players should heed Wednesday's results. He said many of the players adopted a losing strategy.

"The moral of the story is that if you're one of the people who chooses six numbers in a row, it's certainly not going to help you win. And if you win, it's going to guarantee that you don't take much money home,'' Salisbury said.

On top of the 239 second-prize winning tickets, 106 winners picked five correct numbers without the bonus.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe.../lotto_winners_080320/20080320?hub=TopStories