OK Even though Law of Probability Says Exact Powerball Number Can Come Up Twice in a Row It'll NeverPrev TopicNext Topic

• BrunoDog4

  

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  Jan 12, 2016, 8:21 am

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  happen! Is this a total paradox? IE Powerball 13 balls 16,19,32,34,57 will never be drawn Wednesday even though the law of probability says its possible. I wonder if there are people stupid enough to play the exact Prior winning Powerball Number the next drawing?
• dddwww

  

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  Jan 12, 2016, 8:53 pm

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  It's no more stupid to play the same numbers than it is to play any other sequence of numbers.

  Both choices would have the identical, improbable, 1 in 300 million chance of being drawn.
• JuiceMonster

  

  Nashville, TN
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  Jan 12, 2016, 11:46 pm

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  I don't care what anyone says. I don't think it's ever happened and I don't think it's going to happen tomorrow night either. I'm very basic at math, but there has to be a separate set of probability that this would happen right? If that makes any sense. Although, if I just had money to spare, I'd play it for the fun of it.
• lakerben

  

  50

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  January 29, 2010
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  Jan 14, 2016, 3:20 pm

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  In response to BrunoDog4

  Quote: Originally posted by BrunoDog4 on Jan 12, 2016

  happen! Is this a total paradox? IE Powerball 13 balls 16,19,32,34,57 will never be drawn Wednesday even though the law of probability says its possible. I wonder if there are people stupid enough to play the exact Prior winning Powerball Number the next drawing?

  The 19,34 repeated.

  Say hey!

   

  
• dddwww

  

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  Jan 15, 2016, 1:47 am

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  It has never happened because there is only a 1 in 292 million chance of ANY particular combination happening on the next drawing.  You tell me a combination and I will tell you the chances of THAT combination coming up are also 1 in 292 million so it just isn't going to happen either.

   

  All combinations are equally probable so if the last drawing was 4 8 19 27 34 10 then there is a equal probability that the next drawing on Sat will also be 4 8 19 27 34 10 vs 1 2 3 4 5 6 vs 8 12 17 23 56 2

   

  The drawing on Sat isn't influenced by what was drawn on Wed.    If the Powerball was 10 on Wed then the odds are 1 in 26 that it will be 10 on Sat.  It is also 1 in 26 that it will be 1 or 7 or 4 or 19...

  
  Drawing 10 as the Powerball on Sat is EXACTLY as likely as any other number being drawn as the Powerball.
• LottoMetro

  

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  Jan 15, 2016, 10:02 am

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  In response to JuiceMonster

  Quote: Originally posted by JuiceMonster on Jan 12, 2016

  I don't care what anyone says. I don't think it's ever happened and I don't think it's going to happen tomorrow night either. I'm very basic at math, but there has to be a separate set of probability that this would happen right? If that makes any sense. Although, if I just had money to spare, I'd play it for the fun of it.

  The probability would only change if the lottery took out that specific combination and excluded it from ever winning again. But they don't.

  How is it any different that 1 combination shows up twice versus 1 combination being drawn followed by another combination? At the end of the day all combinations are still viable and therefore have the same probability of being drawn.

  The fact that it is seemingly unthinkable to have the same winning numbers drawn twice just proves how big the combination pool is.....games with millions of combinations will rarely if ever have repeat combinations simply because there are so many of them. But it can and does happen.

  If the chances of winning the jackpot are so slim, why play when the jackpot is so small? Your chances never change, but the potential payoff does.
  If a crystal ball showed you the future of the rest of your life, and in that future you will never win a jackpot, would you still play?

  P&L % = Total Win($)/Total Wager($) - 1
• KY Floyd

  

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  Jan 19, 2016, 1:48 am

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  In response to BrunoDog4

  Quote: Originally posted by BrunoDog4 on Jan 12, 2016

  happen! Is this a total paradox? IE Powerball 13 balls 16,19,32,34,57 will never be drawn Wednesday even though the law of probability says its possible. I wonder if there are people stupid enough to play the exact Prior winning Powerball Number the next drawing?

  "I wonder if there are people stupid enough ..."

  There are plenty of stupid people with all sorts of reasons for playing or not playing some particular combination(s).

  I can be incredibly safe in claiming that whatever combination you play for any particular drawing won't be drawn. The basis for that claim has absolutely nothing to do with the numbers you play. It has absolutely nothing to do with the numbers that were drawn in the previous drawing or any other drawing. It's strictly because there are 292,201,387 other combinations that are equally likely to be drawn.

  Here's a test. There used to be a member here who believed that if a drawing produced a jackpot winner in a particular state that the next jackpot winner probably would not be in that same state. He was completely correct in that belief. Because of that, if there was a winner in his state he would drive to a neighboring state to buy tickets for subsequent drawings, because he thought that it increased his chances of winning. Was he right or wrong? You get bonus points for explaining why.
• JethreauxTool

  

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  January 25, 2016
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  Jan 25, 2016, 9:40 pm

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  It is no more foolish to play the previous drawing's combination than it is to play, say 9, 10, 33, 44, 56+PB25.   It's not a "paradox" in the correct sense of the word, just a very unlikely event.  The law of probability says the probability is very small, not 0.