Statistics professor wins the lottery

Nov 14, 2016, 11:17 am (33 comments)

Powerball

FAIRFIELD, Ct. — What are the chances that a statistics professor would end up winning the lottery?

Nicholas Kapoor, who teaches students in his accelerated statistics class at Fairfield University about probability, would definitely know the answer. But now, he doesn't only know the math solution — he knows the real-life chances.

The Connecticut professor recently won $100,000 playing the lottery!

He said his winnings have created a great way to demonstrate for his students how hard it is to win something in the real world.

"I try to bring as many real-life examples into my classroom as possible because these kids need to be ready to compete with the entire world, so I try to make sure in my classroom what they're learning can be applied to the real world," Kapoor said. "One way to do that is to talk about things that happen in real life and one of them is the lottery."

He said he teaches students about winning the Powerball, so now that his quick-pick ticket won he's going to try to incorporate that into his lesson plans.

He said he'll still continue to play the lottery about once a week.

Kapoor said he doesn't want to touch his earnings until next year, and he may use his prize money to go on a trip.

Fox61

Comments

wander73's avatarwander73

This professor needs to be a member on this site .   Then show some of us what he does and how he did it.  Yet it was $100k so probably about $70 - $85 k.  Not bad.

CajunWin4's avatarCajunWin4

The Professor  bought a quick pick and won . He didn't use any math to win !  Anyone else would have had the same chance at winning .

wander73's avatarwander73

He bought a quick pick.  I might not have read that part.   On top of that he isn't spending his winnings so good for him.  He is smart then.

music*'s avatarmusic*

 Professor Nicholas Kapoor will show his students how difficult it is to win when playing the Lottery.

 He will talk about the odds and the taxes he now owes.Approve

VenomV12

He played, that's how he won, end of story. The only statistic you need to know is that you have a 100% chance of not winning if you don't play. Wink

cbr$'s avatarcbr$
Congratulation to Nicholas Kapoor on his win. He win on a quick pick.
Professor Kapoor , now need to turn his winning numbers into a statistical
problem to incorporate in his lesson. His class will love that. It a great idea.
                                                     Party
Sunglasses

100 000 is first price for their C5

That is not 5/75, 5/50, 5/39 or 5/37. That is 5/35.

There is no information about the taxes over the game.

Ant by the way, it was not pick 3 or scratch cards in that case.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Long Odds

Quote: Originally posted by Sunglasses on Nov 14, 2016

100 000 is first price for their C5

That is not 5/75, 5/50, 5/39 or 5/37. That is 5/35.

There is no information about the taxes over the game.

Ant by the way, it was not pick 3 or scratch cards in that case.

Story mentions Powerball. Presumably had 4 of 5 plus the powerball number while playing the power play- if power play was 2x, $50,000 prize doubles to 100K.

Stack47

He said his winnings have created a great way to demonstrate for his students how hard it is to win something in the real world.He said his winnings have created a great way to demonstrate for his students how hard it is to win something in the real world.

I always thought the lotteries showed pictures of winners holding a giant check to make it look like it is easy to win.

noise-gate

Nice story- Good job Nicholas.  At least his not telling the world or his students that he created a "winning formula." Hat's off Professor . Wouldn't it be something if he said his winning formula is going to bring jobs back to America. Big Smile

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Nov 14, 2016

Nice story- Good job Nicholas.  At least his not telling the world or his students that he created a "winning formula." Hat's off Professor . Wouldn't it be something if he said his winning formula is going to bring jobs back to America. Big Smile

Not to worry, jobs are coming back.Wink

Congrats to the lucky guy.

Sunglasses

Quote: Originally posted by Long Odds on Nov 14, 2016

Story mentions Powerball. Presumably had 4 of 5 plus the powerball number while playing the power play- if power play was 2x, $50,000 prize doubles to 100K.

Did he buy a qp? Maybe they just all try their luck.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Nov 14, 2016

He said his winnings have created a great way to demonstrate for his students how hard it is to win something in the real world.He said his winnings have created a great way to demonstrate for his students how hard it is to win something in the real world.

I always thought the lotteries showed pictures of winners holding a giant check to make it look like it is easy to win.

LP members who regularly post predictions already know how hard it is to win even the minimum prize more often than the overall average let alone one of the top prize or a jackpot occasionally. Wink

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