do you think that QPs repeat?Previous TopicNext Topic

Or is each one totally independent of the next? If 2 or 3 people win the jackpot, and all use qps, then its not truly randomn?(The qps I mean)

Are you saying that once a terminal picks a combination, if it or any other terminal picks the same combination again then the process is not random?

Im just wondering if they repeat, that's all. It just seems like it shouldn't, because with MM there are almost 176M diff possible combinations, so it would seem that they wouldnt repeat. Unless of course like on Fridays drawing there were enough sales to cover almost every combination possible, then I could see them sellin repeats.

how is it not random? if enough QP tickets are bought, obviously there will be more than one of the same QP number. if Megamillions does $200 million sales in one week, QP alone should cover all combination (odds of winning MM, 1:165,000,000 approx - too lazy to check for the actual number).

so why are you surprised? isnt it obvious?

QP's are artificially created.   I use them almost exclusively but they are not like bouncing balls...

Not MM, but on Aug 18 the Illinois Little Lotto jackpot was $175,000 and was split by two winners, both QP.

On Aug 28, the jackpot was $420,000 and split by three winners, all were QPs.

Like I said, it wasn't MM, but the same terminals are used for all games, right?

So yeah, they repeat.

Illinois "Little" Lotto jackpots get up to $420M??!!! That's higher than any MM jackpot Ive ever heard of.... But again, I think there are repeats. There have been jackpots won smaller than $100M by more than one winner.

Oh- nevermind. $420,000- wasnt paying attention..

Suppose 1/4 of all possible combinations had already been sold, and then 4 million people each buy one QP that is randomly generated. Do you think there's a chance that 1/4 of those 4 million tickets might repeat a combination that was in the 1/4 of possible combinations that was already sold?

The QPs wouldn't be random if they only gave the combinations that hadn't been sold. When I've bought 10 QPs, there were many times when I had duplicate Mega ball numbers so I always thought the terminals randomly generated combinations between 1 and 56 and randomly added a number between 1 and 46. By looking at it that way, there should be about 10 tickets matching the five numbers for every 39 million QPs sold.

While the overall odds are almost 176 million to 1, it can be broken down into one chance out of 3.9 million to match one of 46 numbers. The chances of having a winner or multiple winners depends on how many possible tickets matching all five numbers are sold. On Friday's drawing there were 36 tickets matching all five numbers and two of them matched the Mega ball too. We know two tickets had duplicate Mega balls so it's possible some of the other 34 tickets had duplicates too.

You are probably confusing a random lottery ticket with a not so random raffle ticket.  Each raffle ticket has an unique number because each number is picked from a list of numbers once and the players have no choice about the numbers he gets.  When there's a drawing to decide the winner, there is alway a winner because the drawing picks a number from the same list and there's no roll over of the top prize for another drawing.

According to William Atwood in his incisive book, The Lottery Solution, what we know to be quick picks are actually a percentage of the total number of combinations the computer is programmed to "release" to the buying public.

Thus, the qp I might buy today in my state might in fact be the one you buy three days later in your state.

Ever notice how the PB or MM jackpots never reach $400 million?  That's most likely due to the fact that as the jackpot grows, the number of total combinations released for purchase is greater than when the jackpot was 1/20 that amount.

One more point: ever buy $5.00 worth of quick picks and notice that the most of the lines of numbers have 2 or more numbers that keep repeating? Atwood calls that "random creep".  If you really insist on buying quick picks, then tell the clerk you want some quick picks but that each is to be on a separate ticket. That should eliminate or minimize the random creep, he says.

Full disclosure: maybe once every 3 months I purchase one quick pick.  But the vast majority of the time I study number patterns and from those patterns I select my numbers.  

It is not in the state's interest to publicize if someone won the jackpot with a "system" or strategy just as it is not in the casino's best interest to sell you books on card counting or other strategies.  Lotteries, like casinos, are stacked against the buyer of a ticket.  

That's why I'd rather select a number based on what might be a pattern, than surrender my hard earned dollar to "chance" aka a qp.

"Always tell the truth-- that will astonish some and gratify the rest".

-Pres. Harry S. Truman

"Ever notice how the PB or MM jackpots never reach $400 million? That's most likely due to the fact that as the jackpot grows, the number of total combinations released for purchase is greater than when the jackpot was 1/20 that amount."

Ever also noticed the number of people buying tickets increases greatly when the jackpot gets over $200 million?

On July 10, the drawing after a $133 million jackpot was hit and the beginning of the latest jackpot run, 17.7 million tickets were sold. The number of tickets sold in the next few drawings gradually increased each drawing with the exception of two drawings that were slightly less. The night the jackpot was finally hit, almost 156 million tickets were sold. The lotteries can only sell "to release to the buying public" at best 10% of the combinations when 17.7 million tickets are sold. Did Mr. Atwood explain the number of tickets matching 5 numbers (without the mega ball) should be close the total number of tickets sold divided by 3.9 million?

My fear is that when I choose numbers and a QP on a ticket, the QP is the same numbers as the one that I picked.

What do I do then?

If I win, split the money with myself.