Is it true...?

Reply #6

RJOh — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:09:41 GMT

That happened back in 1992 when Virgina had a 6/44 state game. Afterward Virgina changed its rules so that couldn't happen again.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0D61439F936A15751C0A964958260 sec= spon= partner=permalink exprod=permalink

Reply #5

KY Floyd — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:07:20 GMT

To cover every line wouldnt you have to pay the amount the odds are (in which case you'd be spending almost $200 million)?

Yes, you'd need to buy every combination, which is the same as the odds. The incident mentioned happend many years ago in VA (IIRC), and was for a state game that had odds that are much lower than today's big jackpot games. It wasn't tremendously unusual for those games to build up to the point that the cash payout substantially exceeded the odds. I forget the details, b... [ More ]

Reply #4

B$Rizzle — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:15:40 GMT

I did the math on this before to see how long it would take even if it was possible.

If I remember correctly, even if soemone wanted to play every combo there was, that person wouldnt have enough time to play all of the combinations between draws. There is just too many.

Then again, a group of people could have a strategic plan to make it happen. Even then, obviously there would be no profit

Reply #3

ttech10 — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:30:10 GMT

To cover every line wouldnt you have to pay the amount the odds are (in which case you'd be spending almost $200 million)?

As for the story, I never heard about it, though seeing as how the lottery isn't crackable it's believeable. There's no system in 6 balls being chosen by complete randomness. Any system someone uses is as good as mine... buy some tickets and hope your numbers match.

Reply #2

four4me — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:35:06 GMT

the story is a group of people attempted to purchase every line but their attempt was halted by the Virginia lottery.

Another group of NASA scientist claimed they used a computer program to win, i forget how many tickets they bought.

Reply #1

GASMETERGUY — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:04:06 GMT

While I am unfamilar with the story of which you speak, I have no doubt that mathematicians and their like failed to crack the lottery. The lottery is as random as random comes. To crack it will require imagination and research. Mathematicians do not have imaginations nor do they have the staying power to do research. They expect results within days if not weeks.

We, on the other hand, being totally insane, will strive to find an algorithym that works at least once a year ( for the JP games

Is it true...?

ambelamba — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:39:02 GMT

A group of mathematicians and other scientists already tried to crack the lottery, particularly MegaMillions.

If I remember correctly, they failed. Spectacularly. I believe the story mostly, but I want to confirm if any of you guys heard about this story.