Best way to play the odds?

Reply #8

jweber01 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:34:50 GMT

Thanks to all for your very informative input. It appears that the consensus is to play a single state.

Reply #7

KY Floyd — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:49:40 GMT

because there will be 10 numbers drawn by playing in ten lotteries, they get the same 1 out of 1000 chances to win.

Playing 10 different numbers in one game gives you a 1 in 1,000 chance because you've covered one number for every thousand possible numbers. If you play 1 number in each of 10 different games the odds of winning once are a little bit worse than 1 in 1000. You have the (very slim) possibility of winning multiple times, and that has to be balanced somehow. The very small chance... [ More ]

Reply #6

Stack47 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:11:59 GMT

I assumed they meant playing 10 different numbers in one lottery or playing 1 number in 10 lotteries. They would either have 10 chances to match one drawn number in one lottery or have 1 chance to match 10 numbers in 10 lotteries. The 10 in 1 gives them a 1 out of 1000 chances of winning and because there will be 10 numbers drawn by playing in ten lotteries, they get the same 1 out of 1000 chances to win. There is only one number drawn so when you bet 10 different numbers, 9 of those can't possi... [ More ]

Reply #5

KY Floyd — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:29:53 GMT

Anyway you look at it, making all of your bets in one state is the way to go. If you bet $10 to play 10 of 10,000 numbers in one state you'll have a 1 in 1000 chance of winning, and a 999 in 1000, or 99.90000% chance of losing. If you spread the 10 bets over 10 states your chance of winning in each state will be 1 in 10,000, and your chance of losing in each state will be 9999 in 10,000, or 99.99000% The chance of losing in all 10 states will be .9990 ^ 10, or 99.90005%. You're more likely to lo... [ More ]

Reply #4

jweber01 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:45:03 GMT

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I would be playing Pick 4, on line. 10 different bets in one state or 1 bet in each of the 10 states. Using 10 states just as an example.

I had considered the possibility of winning in multiple states, but also thinking there might be better odds of winning with multiple bets in one state. That's my conundrum.

Reply #3

KY Floyd — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:07:34 GMT

You're assuming the bets are for different games. If the bets are for the some game then the odds are the same, because either way you have 10 tickets for one game. If the tickets are for 10 different games, you wil have th epossibility of multiple wins, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. The chances of winning multiple games are offset by having a reduced chance of winning even once. If you play all 46 mega balls for Friday night you have a 100% chance of having a ticket with the wining... [ More ]

Reply #2

Stack47 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:30:26 GMT

If you make 10 different bets in one state, you can only win one time but if you make one bet in 10 states you can win multiple times. The potential to win $5000 opposed to $500 for a $10 seems better.

Reply #1

RJOh — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:41:16 GMT

Which game would you be playing, pick3

Best way to play the odds?

jweber01 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:33:57 GMT

I'm wondering if it's better to place, for instance, 10 bets in one state or 1 bet in each of 10 states? Which method has better odds