Lottery question

S

settlement

Registered User
Messages
275
Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum, feel free to move thread if necessary

We all know the odds of winning the lottery are amazingly poor. Yet in Ireland almost every week somebody wins. How can this be the case if the odds are so poor?
 
What do lottery winners do with the large amount of money they win?

If they stick it in the bank they are hit with DIRT and anything over €100k isn't guaranteed.

Does Lotto HQ provide or give financial guidance? I presume they don't just say here's your cheque and good luck with it.
 
settlement said:
Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum, feel free to move thread if necessary

We all know the odds of winning the lottery are amazingly poor. Yet in Ireland almost every week somebody wins. How can this be the case if the odds are so poor?
Click to expand...


its just the luck of the oirish:D

Does Lotto HQ provide or give financial guidance? I presume they don't just say here's your cheque and good luck with it.
Click to expand...

They give advice on how to handle your big win, as to what the extent of that advice is, i've no idea, but will let you know shortly :)
 
Last edited:
settlement said:
Do you have statistics/maths to explain? Thanks
Click to expand...

Well, have a read of these for starters and come back if you feel the need

http://www.lotto.net/irish-lotto/irish-lotto-prizes.asp
[broken link removed])

But basically, it's a mug's game - the fact that it's a very profitable business should tell you all you need to know, if for example you were a 25 year old with 15k burning a hole in your pocket... ;)

EDIT: And I've only just noticed that you've put this thread in the Investment Forum - let's be VERY clear, the Lottery is NOT an Investment, it's actually the complete opposite, since the expected return is always negative.
 
settlement said:
Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum, feel free to move thread if necessary

We all know the odds of winning the lottery are amazingly poor. Yet in Ireland almost every week somebody wins. How can this be the case if the odds are so poor?
Click to expand...
The individual odds of winning a lottery, and the odds of the lottery being won by somebody, are two completely different things.

The former is a function of the number of possible outcomes of the lottery game. The latter is a function of the number of outcomes and the size of the playing population. The number of outcomes is set by the lottery organiser, by manipulating the game format, in order to achieve their desired jackpot size and frequency.
 
They say if you win the Lotto, not to make any major purchases for the first 6 months. So that means no yachts, Bugatti's etc.

Not sure if the National Lottery recommend anyone in particular to give financial advice.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
If you're going to play the lotto pick a combination of numbers that would be perceived by many as having less chance of being selected such as groups of numbers eg 4,5,6,18,19,20 ! Of course each combination has the same chance of being selected ie 1 in 8145060 but if you're grouped numbers are selected you're more likely to be the sole winner ! Greed is good :D
 
demoivre said:
If you're going to play the lotto pick a combination of numbers that would be perceived by many as having less chance of being selected such as groups of numbers eg 4,5,6,18,19,20 ! Of course each combination has the same chance of being selected ie 1 in 8145060 but if you're grouped numbers are selected you're more likely to be the sole winner ! Greed is good :D
Click to expand...

Of course, convincing people of the equal likelihood of each outcome can be a good antidote to them playing in the first place. I've never played, but years ago I told my elderly father that he had just as much chance of winning if he picked 1,2,3,4,5,6. He scoffed and said "sure that would never come up!". Uh, yeah, exactly ...
 
dub_nerd said:
Of course, convincing people of the equal likelihood of each outcome can be a good antidote to them playing in the first place. I've never played, but years ago I told my elderly father that he had just as much chance of winning if he picked 1,2,3,4,5,6. He scoffed and said "sure that would never come up!". Uh, yeah, exactly ...
Click to expand...

I played 1,2,3,4,5,6 in last weekend's national lottery and I didn't come out. Only play the odd time though.
 
dub_nerd said:
Of course, convincing people of the equal likelihood of each outcome can be a good antidote to them playing in the first place. I've never played, but years ago I told my elderly father that he had just as much chance of winning if he picked 1,2,3,4,5,6. He scoffed and said "sure that would never come up!". Uh, yeah, exactly ...
Click to expand...


I had a similar debate with my dad a few years ago, couldn't convince him it was just as likely as any other combinations
 
Someone once described any lottery as a 'tax on idiots'. No harm in it the odd time but to expect to win ..... sheesh!

To answer the original question, if the odds are a million-to-one -> if a million play, then someone may have won, but 999,999 have lost.
 
settlement said:
Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum, feel free to move thread if necessary

We all know the odds of winning the lottery are amazingly poor. Yet in Ireland almost every week somebody wins. How can this be the case if the odds are so poor?
Click to expand...

Undoubtedly the odds of winning in any lottery game especially the ones with colossal jackpots are extremely low but it doesn’t mean that no one can win it. Every now and then we hear the jackpot winning stories and you could be one of them as well.
 
As a matter of interest does the Irish Lotto Operator publish their sales and costs?
It would be interesting to know how much they take in sales, spend on running costs, take in profits, distribute in prizes and distribute in grants etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top