11/11/11 was the lottery's lucky day

Nov 12, 2011, 10:00 pm (23 comments)

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By Todd Northrop

Thanks to Friday's lucky date, Nov. 11, 2011, or 11/11/11, lottery ticket sales are booming.

All those ones in a row are very attractive for lottery players, since that set of numbers won't roll around again for another 100 years.  But many players found that tickets were sold out on combinations with all 1's when they went to purchase a ticket.

To ensure every winner gets paid, lotteries with fixed payouts cap sales of certain number combinations. In New York, for example, the Win4, which caps sales on any one number combination at $5 million, sold out of 1-1-1-1 tickets for the Nov. 11 drawing a week before the drawing date, according to Carolyn Hapeman, spokeswoman for the New York Lottery.

Dale Garrison of Kansas City, Mo. played on 9-9-09 and didn't win. He doesn't think he'll have much more luck on 11-11-11 either, but he still bought a ticket anyway.

"There are a large number of people who sit on the sidelines and wait to jump in when they see a big jackpot or for dates like this," said David Just, associate professor of economics at Cornell. "You might see a 5% to 10% bump [in sales]," he said — similar to the one on July 7, 2007.

The Ohio Lottery's Pick 4 sold out of the 1-1-1-1 combination well in advance of the drawing date.

Thursday night at the ever-popular lottery sales location Smith and Snow Shell in Brook Park, the word seemed to have gotten out.

Clerk Betty Marquard said when the calendar dials up a special date like 11/11/11, tickets sell out quickly.

"It happens all the time, people like to get it," Marquard said.

But with this special date, the Pick 4 tickets have been gone for quite a while.

"People have been trying to bet it, one one one one but it's been sold out. Everyday someone tries to bet it, it's been sold out,"she said.

Statistically, drawing three or four ones in a row is no more likely or unlikely than drawing any other combination, said University of Chicago statistics professor Stephen Stigler, a self-described lottery historian.

"The state should just let people pick whatever number they want," Stigler said.

The Multi-State Lottery Association, which makes the payouts in the Powerball and Mega Millions drawings, does not have a cap on ticket sales, said Executive Director Charles Strutt. But that policy has caused some anxiety.

In 2005, several hundred people across multiple states picked five winning numbers — using the numbers found in fortune cookies that all were shipped from the same New York bakery, forcing the lottery to spend some $19 million from a $25 million cash reserve, Strutt said.

Consistently, the most popular number sequence played in the Powerball and Mega Millions games is 1-2-3-4-5-6, Strutt said, but he doesn't lose any sleep over it. "It has the same odds of winning as any other combination."

By the way, no lottery drew the 1-1-1-1 Pick 4 combination on Friday, nor did any draw the 1-1-1 combination in the Pick 3 game on Friday.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Oh well, 12-12-12 will be coming up in 1 year, 1 month and 1 day.

C0w Pi3

No 1-1-1 but Delaware did have 4-4-4 in the pick 3 so I guess it was somewhat "lucky".

joshuacloak's avatarjoshuacloak

just rofl at"Powerball and Mega Millions games is 1-2-3-4-5-6,"

i don't know what's worst, odds it never happen, or fact you have to share the jackpot with tons of other people rofl.

TheGameGrl's avatarTheGameGrl

Statistics and logic kept me away from even touching the 111 in any game. Perhaps double 1's, but I am not so stupid when looking at dates and thinking that numbers will just show up based on the day its played. People play 1225 alot near Christmas and they play 214 around valentines day....I simply shrug and say , silly lil person tricks are for kids...Randomness doesn't like to use a calendar. 

If anyone wants to take the time in there home state of play and actually see if a number has matched its date of play then have at it, I personally did this for PA and its soo "uncommon" that its best to play a system of real mathematics.

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

On Sept 11, TN's midday was 911 and it was on the front of that day's newspaper in Red...of course folks played it and they killed it!! 

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

nutty Thud

Slick Nick's avatarSlick Nick

There's alot of history,mystery, and curiosity regarding the numbers 11 going back centuries.  It's interesting. World War 1 ended in the 11th hour,on the 11th day,in the 11th month. The world trade center tragedy, even the Apollo moon landing. The USA skipped skipped number sequence to make sure that it was Apollo 11 was the craft that landed on the moon.US Flag

Slick Nick's avatarSlick Nick

In New York, 911 has come out a total of 10 times in exact order, and 29 times in various orders.Wink

kapla

Quote: Originally posted by Slick Nick on Nov 13, 2011

In New York, 911 has come out a total of 10 times in exact order, and 29 times in various orders.Wink

And if I remember right, didn't 911 come out ST8 EVE *1* year later on 9/11/2002????

Slick Nick's avatarSlick Nick

Yes it did Kap...Wink

Hermanus104's avatarHermanus104

11-11-11 was the only day this century that could be written by repeating the same digit six times.

Hermanus104's avatarHermanus104

Quote: Originally posted by kapla on Nov 13, 2011

And if I remember right, didn't 911 come out ST8 EVE *1* year later on 9/11/2002????

That is correct.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by Slick Nick on Nov 13, 2011

In New York, 911 has come out a total of 10 times in exact order, and 29 times in various orders.Wink

If you were a Platinum member, you could use the Lottery Results Search Engine and see that in New York, 911 has come out straight 17 times:

Fri, Oct 22, 2010 (midday)
Fri, Jul 16, 2010 (midday)
Mon, Nov 16, 2009
Wed, May 6, 2009 (midday)
Sat, Dec 16, 2006
Thu, Feb 3, 2005 (midday)
Tue, Jan 18, 2005 (midday)
Fri, Jul 4, 2003 (midday)
Wed, Sep 11, 2002
Sat, Sep 18, 1999
Fri, Jun 26, 1998
Fri, Dec 20, 1996
Sun, Oct 20, 1991
Fri, Apr 27, 1990
Sun, Apr 10, 1983
Sat, Jan 22, 1983
Wed, Dec 22, 1982

It has come out 45 times in any order.

Slick Nick's avatarSlick Nick

Thanks for the update Todd. I was searching directly through the New York web page.Wink Soon I hope to get the Platinum.

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