A game with a windfall for a knowing few • Hacker News Board

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#31

Post by bumbledraven » Sun, Jul 31, 2011, 9:12 PM UTC

mhb wrote: post #29

bumbledraven wrote: post #21

Mark Kon, a professor of math and statistics at Boston University, calculated that a bettor buying even $10,000 worth of tickets would run a significant risk of losing more than they won during the July rolldown week. A $2 Cash WinFall ticket allows you to pick a set of 6 distinct integers from the set {1..46}. The lottery commission then picks six distinct integers at random from the set {1..46}, effectively by draw…

The rules also mention: If the total prizes won for any drawing, exceed 200% of the net sales for that drawing the prize amounts will be based upon a formula detailed in the Rules and Regulations or Administrative Bulletins issued thereunder. which has to add a little FUD into the thinking.

Yes, although historically it's clear that the payouts make it profitable to buy tickets on rolldown days, the actual formula used to calculate the payouts was opaque. I heard that one of the lottery syndicates actually made a request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law to get the lottery commission to reveal the formula, which they eventually did.

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#32

Post by VladRussian » Sun, Jul 31, 2011, 9:13 PM UTC

Gatsky wrote: post #5

How come there aren't any lottery start-ups?

to disrupt the industry run by government and the mob?

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#33

Post by mhb » Sun, Jul 31, 2011, 9:20 PM UTC

derleth wrote: post #14

jacques_chester wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This particular scheme pays out most of the money to a select few, though, which defeats the point. Does it? To me the only point of a lottery is for the operator to make a predictable profit; that predictability is why governments like them so much. Who wins the jackpot is pretty close to irrelevant.

Wait for the political fallout when the people funding the jackpots realize all their money is going to out-of-staters and they have no chance of winning anything, ever. (Yes, I'm pretty sure that's how this will be reported in local media.)

The Boston Globe isn't local?

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#34

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 12:51 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#35

Post by chopsueyar » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 2:10 AM UTC

Gatsky wrote: post #5

How come there aren't any lottery start-ups?

I believe they were mentioned in the article. These people are buying tickets under companies, not individuals.

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#36

Post by joeycfan » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 3:45 AM UTC

I don't see the problem here. These people had the brains to figure this out, the bucks to bet on it and the balls to try it out.

Life itself is 'A game with a windfall for a knowing few'

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#37

Post by nonymousse » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 4:08 AM UTC

bumbledraven wrote: post #21

Mark Kon, a professor of math and statistics at Boston University, calculated that a bettor buying even $10,000 worth of tickets would run a significant risk of losing more than they won during the July rolldown week. A $2 Cash WinFall ticket allows you to pick a set of 6 distinct integers from the set {1..46}. The lottery commission then picks six distinct integers at random from the set {1..46}, effectively by draw…

Which company has this as a hiring problem?

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#38

Post by derleth » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 4:47 AM UTC

mhb wrote: post #33

derleth wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait for the political fallout when the people funding the jackpots realize all their money is going to out-of-staters and they have no chance of winning anything, ever. (Yes, I'm pretty sure that's how this will be reported in local media.)

The Boston Globe isn't local?

Good question. When I say 'local', I mean the Deming Headlight and the Havre Daily News. You know, all the papers nobody outside a hundred mile radius of the town cares about. The Boston Globe is up there with the LA Times and the Washington Post and so on and so forth, in the national, if not global, ranks.

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#39

Post by patio11 » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 4:52 AM UTC

The subtext: "Bad private investor syndicates exploiting math to steal money from poor people. That is the government's job."

Re: A game with a windfall for a knowing few

#40

Post by randallsquared » Mon, Aug 01, 2011, 4:54 AM UTC

nonymousse wrote: post #37

bumbledraven wrote: post #21

Mark Kon, a professor of math and statistics at Boston University, calculated that a bettor buying even $10,000 worth of tickets would run a significant risk of losing more than they won during the July rolldown week. A $2 Cash WinFall ticket allows you to pick a set of 6 distinct integers from the set {1..46}. The lottery commission then picks six distinct integers at random from the set {1..46}, effectively by draw…

Which company has this as a hiring problem?

Probably he means ITA Software, which was bought by Google last year.