Has a major lottery ever produced a result that doesn't look random?
November 6, 2014 1:03 PM Subscribe
Every outcome in a fair lottery is equally probable, yet some results display obvious patterns and feel less likely to the statistically uninformed. Nobody would blink if a six-number lotto draw came up with (3,12,27,31,40,44), but a result of (1,2,3,4,5,6) would probably make the news. Has this ever happened in a major lottery? If yes, what was the public responce?
I know there were several stories, like this one, when some of the LOST numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) came up in a real lottery.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:12 PM on November 6, 2014
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:12 PM on November 6, 2014
Here's a brief letter to the editor about a suspicion about Pennsylvania's lottery generating a high number of doubles, and a potentially more substantive article on the Penn. daytime Big 4 lottery hitting 5048 in 3 of 4 days.
On the other end, some mathematicians spent time looking at people who won a lot in Florida, resulting in Florida investigating one man and three store owners, due to highly unlikely patterns of winning.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:21 PM on November 6, 2014
On the other end, some mathematicians spent time looking at people who won a lot in Florida, resulting in Florida investigating one man and three store owners, due to highly unlikely patterns of winning.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:21 PM on November 6, 2014
The Bulgarian lottery in 2009 drew the same six numbers in two consecutive rounds. This demonstrated that some people will play (on purpose) with the last draw's outcome.
posted by thijsk at 2:05 PM on November 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by thijsk at 2:05 PM on November 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
Here's another classic: 110 people won the Powerball when they played the numbers they'd gotten in a fortune cookie.
posted by lesli212 at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by lesli212 at 2:07 PM on November 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
There was a UK draw in 1995 when 133 winners shared a jackpot, very much not the norm, this article discusses some of the reasons for it.
posted by biffa at 4:11 PM on November 6, 2014
posted by biffa at 4:11 PM on November 6, 2014
Best answer: On Sept. 11, 2002 the winning number in the NY state lottery was 9-1-1
posted by belladonna at 4:55 PM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by belladonna at 4:55 PM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]
After a 1958 train wreck in NJ:
'Front-page news photos showed the car hanging from the bridge, its number clearly marked as 932. That same number hit the next day in the numbers racket at 600-to-1 odds, according to newspaper reports at the time. The loss to the metropolitan numbers bank was estimated at $50 million. Many fled to avoid paying.'
Don't know about suspicions of shenanigans, but I'll bet there were some (suspicions).
posted by SallyHitMeOntheHead at 5:03 PM on November 6, 2014
'Front-page news photos showed the car hanging from the bridge, its number clearly marked as 932. That same number hit the next day in the numbers racket at 600-to-1 odds, according to newspaper reports at the time. The loss to the metropolitan numbers bank was estimated at $50 million. Many fled to avoid paying.'
Don't know about suspicions of shenanigans, but I'll bet there were some (suspicions).
posted by SallyHitMeOntheHead at 5:03 PM on November 6, 2014
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/lottery.asp
Illuminati!
posted by Jacen at 8:22 AM on November 7, 2014
Illuminati!
posted by Jacen at 8:22 AM on November 7, 2014
Best answer: Oh haha, I was trying to find another instance I remembered, and it seems there's a whole website devoted to lottery stuff, including improbable lottery numbers. That's just one page of many; I didn't see a whole category or tag dedicated to only coincidences/improbable results, but probably a google site search would work.
posted by lesli212 at 10:40 AM on November 7, 2014
posted by lesli212 at 10:40 AM on November 7, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:11 PM on November 6, 2014 [3 favorites]