"Ooh, you should never pick seven numbers in a row for the lottery, they'll never come up. You should pick random numbers instead."
Leave my presence, right now, you fucking prole or I will explain why you are wrong. It'll probably require crayon drawings and finger puppets...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 16:36, 11 replies)

1,2,3,4,5,6
Is played by many people. Ergo, if you win, you share.

The only strategy for the lottery is to pick numbers that other people don't, so on the minuscule chance you get lucky, you get all the cash for yourself.

Then you can donate more money to remedial maths charities.
( Amish Information Systems hates misplaced, commas, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 16:39, closed)

Also, I am lightning proof
I can quite happily sit atop a tall tree in a thunderstorm, waving my umbrella and holding a wet duck, and be completely safe.

You see, they say you are 7 times more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lottery.

And I don't play the lottery.
( Amish Information Systems hates misplaced, commas, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 16:41, closed)

alternatively
play the same numbers 10 times. not cost effective if you don't win, but if you do, then you can laugh at everyone else knowing you'll get 10 times as much of the money as them. unless they play the numbers 20 times. or no-one else wins.
(fat stavros, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 19:29, closed)

While I am completly on your side
I do understand why people find it so difficult to grasp, it just feels counter-intuitive that 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 are just as likely to come up as any other set of numbers.

I think it's because people see a mix of numbers every week, so that say 13, 17, 36, 39, 40 and 44 looks no different than 11, 16, 35, 37, 41 and 42 but consecutive numbers stand out a mile.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 16:54, closed)

they're right
you should only ever pick 6 numbers for the lottery.
(bblgoose, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 17:17, closed)

Meh
Let people have their superstitions. After all, its a 1 in 14 mil chance (or whatever it is). Not exactly like refusing to or choosing to pick 123456 on your lottery ticket is going to influence the outcome much. Besides, people tend to have "lucky" numbers anyway. Most of us have little superstitions that we keep to even though we know they're ridiculous.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 17:42, closed)

I'm not so sure
I understand the maths, 1 in 49 of pulling any number...1 in 48 of pulling the next number etc..

However, when you start looking at a strings of numbers, although the 1 in 49, 1 in 48, 1 in 47 etc works, you are now looking at a range within the odds.

so, if you start with number 12, for instance, the next number drawn has to be within a range from 7 to 17 to form a string, depending on the next pulled, lets say it's 15, the next range has to be within 10 and 17...

so by the third draw you are not looking at 1 in 47, but the odds of pulling a number between 10 and 17 that isn't 12 or 15 out of 47...

It goes a bit odd, and I don't have the maths to explain it.

I think, anyway.
( Larry Death Anger Pain Fear Aggression, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 20:46, closed)

The number pulled out next
Is not dependant on any of the previous numbers. There are 13.5 million ways to pick six numbers from 49, and all of them have exactly the same probability. The machine and balls don't remember anything that happened before they were picked, and they have no tendancy to compensate for any past imbalances either.
( MatJ LOOK, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 22:44, closed)

Up until recently I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly about this
but having spent a day trying to get my head around the Monty Hall Problem, I have realised I do not understand probability at all and that my opinion on such matters is totally worthless.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 22 Apr 2011, 14:36, closed)

The issue with that..
.. is that additional information is introduced during the game.

Your chance of picking the "prize" first time is 1 in 3.

However, after being shown one "wrong" choice, you will never choose that one. Therefore, if you switch you can never lose unless you were right to start with. Therefore if you stick you will win one in 3 and if you switch you will win every other time (2 in 3).

The lottery does not take away any neighboring balls after the first ball is drawn, for example.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Tue 26 Apr 2011, 17:04, closed)

But but but - when the wrong choice is taken away, you're left with 50/50 chance either way
How does switching help?

No actually, don't bother, I know I'm wrong and this is just one of those things I'll never understand. I read that wikipedia page through really slowly and still my brain just won't accept it. It's like 0.9 recurring = 1, people who do maths understand it, and that's good enough for me.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Wed 27 Apr 2011, 12:56, closed)