I read in the paper that somebody won the jackpot, carried on playing using the same lucky numbers, and won the jackpot again just a short while later! Is it true jackpot numbers are repeated?
Yes and no!
Yes, any set of numbers can be repeated. Lottery balls have no memory, they don’t remember if they got drawn last week or any other week. That means they have just as much chance of being drawn this week.
In fact, last weeks winning numbers have exactly the same chance of being drawn this week.
Which is of course, exactly the same chance as any other set of number being drawn. And that’s why it “never” happens. Because there are millions of other combinations just as likely to come up, it’s much more likely winning numbers won’t come up again simply because there are a hell of a lot more of them.
Think of a dice. If you throw a 6, then roll again, are you now more or less likely to get a 6? The 6 is still there on the dice exactly the same as it was before. So of course, it still has the same 1 in 6 chance of being rolled. There is more chance of not rolling a 6, but only because there are 5 other numbers there. Just like before you rolled the 6 in the first place.
So yes, any set of numbers can be repeated. But no, they are no more likely to be drawn.
The danger again is in the myth and fake knowledge spread by ignorant people. Some people think winning numbers are more likely to be drawn again, so they pick numbers that have won the jackpot before – which means sharing the jackpot with all of them if you pick those numbers too…
Of course numbers will repeat, but out of the possible 14 million outcomes, you will never get 14 million outcomes.
You will only get 2 thirds, approx 9.3million.
This is the same with most games of chance.
But this wont help you win the lotto.
This is called law of third.
Hmm, problem with the law of thirds is that it doesn’t work in the short term, or the long term…
Take a dice roll for example. Are you really saying if you keep on rolling that dice two of the six numbers will NEVER come up..?
Ultimately all combinations will get drawn on the lottery. But we’ll all be long dead by the time it happens.
Yes we will all be dead before all combos come up, so with regards to the Lotto the best bet would be to pick a combo that has never been drawn I guess. But which one. To wittle it down I would say you could discount all numbers like 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. Look at the most common sections. Everything is beatable with the right bank roll and knowledge.
No, no and er, no.
You’re making the same classic mistake most lottery system sellers rely on to peddle their junk.
1. Combinations that have been drawn before are NOT less likely to appear again. Not even slightly. (Still not convinced? What about the same numbers two weeks in a row? Totally impossible, right? See Repeat Lottery Numbers In Bulgaria!)
2. No combination is ANY less likely than any other. It doesn’t matter what pattern it makes, the odds are exactly the same. They’re just ping pong balls bouncing around in a big drum, so why would any combination be less likely? They don’t know what other balls have been drawn when they pop out.