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A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

thehustle.co

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Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#41

Post by GCA10 »

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #3

Seems kind of silly that they hyped it up as some kind of mathematical savant genius story, when it seems like they just took a simple lottery system (x numbers give y combinations, which sell for $1 per combination, for a total payout of >$3y) where the logistics operation was the more impressive aspect.

"Reading the works of Fibonacci" sounds like the sort of narrative garnish that would charm a journalist with little knowledge of math -- but would sound contrived to anyone who's take a stat class or two.

Given how well-known the Fibonacci sequence is today, poring through Liber Abaci (1202) in search of secret insights is teetering on the edge of madness.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#42

Post by rootw0rm »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #18
peterburkimsher wrote: post #5

When I was in my final year of high school, Coca-cola was giving away an iPod Nano to lucky winners who entered codes from plastic bottle caps or glass bottle labels. An iPod was given away once per day, except Monday, when they were given out once per hour. I was competing against the rest of Switzerland. Each code had to be entered on a website, earning 0, 5, 10, 20 or 50 points. You could then choose how many poin…

I had a very similar story for the launch of the Xbox 360. Mountain Dew was auctioning one every 10 minutes with points. The obvious thing for me, though, was that you could get a code when signing up with your email. I had my own domain name at the time so I made a few hundred addresses and signed them all up. I actually won two Xboxes but never got the second one. Either they saw it was the same IP or caught on to…

I did the same thing!!! I won two Xboxes, got them both, a controller, and a ton of t-shirts. my poor postal guy had a vehicle filled with just my t-shirts on Christmas Eve, he wasn't too happy about it, lol.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#43

Post by khacking »

mamon wrote: post #35
kbenson wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Neither corporate lawyers nor government would ever acknowledge that loophole in a business models does not necessarily equals to fraud. There's a lot of negations in there, I'm not sure if I'm reading it incorrectly, or you have one too many, but is sounds like you're saying that corporate lawyers and government will always maintain that a loophole in a business model is fraud?

Exactly, because they want business model to benefit them, not customers. Think about casinos banning players for counting cards in Black Jack: the only reasonable strategy of playing the game is considered illegal. In other words - you are welcome to play if you are bad at it, but once you get good you are considered "fraud"

The casino, if they become aware of you counting cards/advantage playing etc will often allow you to continue playing because if you do win (these methods don’t always win you the game of course, it’s easy to make mistakes), then they can disallow your win for you changing the nature of the game. If you don’t win then no harm done, they’ll take it thanks.

They’re freerolling the player.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#44

Post by mamon »

kbenson wrote: post #37
mamon wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, because they want business model to benefit them, not customers. Think about casinos banning players for counting cards in Black Jack: the only reasonable strategy of playing the game is considered illegal. In other words - you are welcome to play if you are bad at it, but once you get good you are considered "fraud"

Card counting is generally legal in the US as long as it's done with the mind, and not an external device[1]. That said, it's usually against casino rules, so they will make you leave if they suspect it, and possibly put your face on the internal list they have of known card counters if you do it enough or win enough. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counting#Legal_status

Ok, so maybe it is not against a federal law but still, making you leave the casino because you are too good at the game you're playing seems weird.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#45

Post by gwern »

> His legacy lives on in US legislation: All 44 states that run lotteries have enacted laws preventing the profitable replication of Mandel’s strategy. In effect, this secures him a title as the first and last man to ever successfully game the lottery by buying every possible combination.

This doesn't seem true? He didn't buy all of the tickets in question, he only bought most, and people have been running lottery syndicates under the same logic which buy some or most tickets to ensure winning for centuries. Even Voltaire ran one.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#48

Post by themodelplumber »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #40
themodelplumber wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to wonder--given those impressive experiences, could you find a way to produce the resources you need without needing a job? From reading about your obvious gifts here, I would guess that if you had a list of criteria like how much you need to earn, and whatever other resources you require, you could figure out a clever way to meet those criteria. Job or no job.

I don't know why this is getting downvotes - entrepreneurship is something I've considered. It doesn't help me get a visa though. I tried emailing computer repair shops asking them to advertise my data migration services - using an Apple II to copy off 5.25" floppies, a Mac LC to read DD floppies, and a PowerBook G3 to read SCSI and JAZ disks. Unfortunately, I only got one reply that asked to see a poster before they…

A visa too! Wow, a fascinating problem with multiple dimensions to consider. And here at the center of it, a gifted analyst.

I wonder what kind of theory or model could be drafted, something that fits the situation like a glove _and_ exposes critical leverage points.

If anyone could do it...(points at you)

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#49

Post by Declanomous »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #24
whamlastxmas wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a very similar story for the launch of the Xbox 360. Mountain Dew was auctioning one every 10 minutes with points. The obvious thing for me, though, was that you could get a code when signing up with your email. I had my own domain name at the time so I made a few hundred addresses and signed them all up. I actually won two Xboxes but never got the second one. Either they saw it was the same IP or caught on to…

Selling it after was a good idea - I built my own iPod Video by fixing broken iPods for friends, and didn't need the Nano in the end. After a few years I gave it to a kid at church in Shenzhen. However, I did find a way to convert UBS KeyClub points into cash. They're a loyalty-card system similar to frequent flyer miles, and are worth 1 CHF per point. When my friends visited Geneva, we planned to spend the points in…

Buying a cheese fondue is the most Swiss thing about this story. Cheese fondues were a fad in the US before I was born, and I know a lot of people's parent's who own them and use them maybe once every 5 years.

Re: A rogue Romanian economist legally gamed the lottery

#50

Post by murukesh_s »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #40
themodelplumber wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to wonder--given those impressive experiences, could you find a way to produce the resources you need without needing a job? From reading about your obvious gifts here, I would guess that if you had a list of criteria like how much you need to earn, and whatever other resources you require, you could figure out a clever way to meet those criteria. Job or no job.

I don't know why this is getting downvotes - entrepreneurship is something I've considered. It doesn't help me get a visa though. I tried emailing computer repair shops asking them to advertise my data migration services - using an Apple II to copy off 5.25" floppies, a Mac LC to read DD floppies, and a PowerBook G3 to read SCSI and JAZ disks. Unfortunately, I only got one reply that asked to see a poster before they…

What kind of work are you looking for? Have you tried remote work?
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