DeyDurkie5
Posts: 11,324
Mar 30, 2012 10:08pm
If no one wins, the jackpot for tuesday's drawing will be 950million
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Mar 30, 2012 10:09pm
No. Each of the 5 is drawn only once, so order does not matter (they are listed in ascending order on the ticket). The mega ball can then be any of the 55(?) numbers again.OSH;1132320 wrote:The first ball has to be the first number on the ticket, the second ball the second number...and so forth.
So, if you match the first, third, and fifth balls, then you match three balls and win $150 or whatever the pot is.
You don't win if your first, second, and fourth numbers match the first, third, and fifth balls.
My question is how does the computer picks work? I thought it would, in the past, give you one of the remaining numbers not already picked at random, so the longer you wait then theoretically the better your chances of holding a unique ticket. But that seems like too technically advanced, especially when you consider what happens when every number has been picked (fairly likely for this week).
gorocks99
Posts: 10,760
Mar 30, 2012 10:09pm
With over 600 million tickets sold for this drawing, the only odds that might be worse than no one winning tonight's drawing are the odds to actually win tonight's drawing.DeyDurkie5;1132329 wrote:If no one wins, the jackpot for tuesday's drawing will be 950million
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Mar 30, 2012 10:12pm
For $172M or whatever it would be, you could theoretically buy every single number. Not sure how one could even accomplish that, but you'd have to bank that only 1 or 2 others won in order to make a profit (with a $950M jackpot). Would be hilarious if someone like Soros bought all the tickets and had the lone winner.DeyDurkie5;1132329 wrote:If no one wins, the jackpot for tuesday's drawing will be 950million
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Mar 30, 2012 10:15pm
That's over 3X the number of possible combinations, so we should see at least 3 winners, but could easily have 5 or 6. I wonder what the biggest scenario is - i.e. people who pick their own numbers there's probably some fairly common combos that might have a few dozen tickets.gorocks99;1132332 wrote:With over 600 million tickets sold for this drawing, the only odds that might be worse than no one winning tonight's drawing are the odds to actually win tonight's drawing.
Not that anyone would cry over sharing with any number of people, but thinking you might be the sole winner of $315M after tax vs. $52.5M (split 6 ways) is still a different ballgame. $315M I'm figuring out how many of my friends and family I can make millionaires, along with maybe funding my own charity. For $52M you just have to scale down you ambitions a bit.
chicago510
Posts: 5,728
Mar 30, 2012 10:17pm
Lol, it would suck (relatively speaking) to win---and be spending your $400 mil in your head---only to realize you have to split it 5 ways.
bases_loaded
Posts: 6,912
Mar 30, 2012 10:24pm
http://mashable.com/2012/03/30/mega-millions-jackpot-crazy-gadgets/
I'm getting the sub and buggatti for sure
I'm getting the sub and buggatti for sure
2kool4skool
Posts: 1,804
Mar 30, 2012 10:25pm
The chances of a lone winner have to be next to nothing. For one, there's such a large pool of players. Secondly, human selected numbers will generate a pattern. For instance, lots of 1-12's and 1-31's because of birthdays, lucky numbers are usually single digits, etc.
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Mar 30, 2012 10:28pm
Haha....Worry would immediately set in as you realize you won't get $400M, and then start wondering how many you have to share with. Imagine waking up the next morning to discover by some incredible fluke there were 100 winning tickets. $4M!!!!chicago510;1132342 wrote:Lol, it would suck (relatively speaking) to win---and be spending your $400 mil in your head---only to realize you have to split it 5 ways.
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gut
Posts: 15,058
Mar 30, 2012 10:33pm
Maybe. That other post said there was only a 94% chance someone wins, so I'd have to guess there's still like a 1-2% chance of a lone winner - very small, but still much greater than your odds of winning.2kool4skool;1132349 wrote:The chances of a lone winner have to be next to nothing. For one, there's such a large pool of players. Secondly, human selected numbers will generate a pattern. For instance, lots of 1-12's and 1-31's because of birthdays, lucky numbers are usually single digits, etc.
If most people go with the machine picks - which I'd guess with a bunch of infrequent players jumping in - you figure 3-4 winners, but I have no idea how many draws you need to pick all 172M numbers at random - their estimate is @3X equates to 94% or so coverage. If number like you're talking about hit then you could be talking 6-10 winners, maybe more.
OSH
Posts: 4,145
Mar 30, 2012 10:39pm
Ah...makes sense. It doesn't show it making that much sense on the lottery website. But...I also didn't have my tickets there in front of me as I watched the "how to play" stuff.gut;1132331 wrote:No. Each of the 5 is drawn only once, so order does not matter (they are listed in ascending order on the ticket). The mega ball can then be any of the 55(?) numbers again.
My question is how does the computer picks work? I thought it would, in the past, give you one of the remaining numbers not already picked at random, so the longer you wait then theoretically the better your chances of holding a unique ticket. But that seems like too technically advanced, especially when you consider what happens when every number has been picked (fairly likely for this week).
I think the MegaBall is 1-46. The others are 1-56.
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dave
Posts: 4,558
Mar 30, 2012 10:47pm
line was 10 deep at 9:30 at a suburban kroger. can't imagine what some of the gas station lines are like in busy areas.
ts1227
Posts: 12,319
Mar 30, 2012 10:52pm
A store in Salem that occasionally cracks $1,000 in total machine lottery game sales (they sell a ton of instants, which aren't included in that total), did over $6,000 in Mega Millions today.dave;1132371 wrote:line was 10 deep at 9:30 at a suburban kroger. can't imagine what some of the gas station lines are like in busy areas.
chicago510
Posts: 5,728
Mar 30, 2012 10:54pm
What is the profit for the merchants? Has to be something decent or they wouldn't have those huge machines on the counters
ts1227
Posts: 12,319
Mar 30, 2012 10:55pm
Online games are like 3.5%, if I recall. I know instants are 5.5%chicago510;1132376 wrote:What is the profit for the merchants? Has to be something decent or they wouldn't have those huge machines on the counters
chicago510
Posts: 5,728
Mar 30, 2012 10:59pm
Moment of truth on ABC. I don't even have a ticket but I think the hype is fun.
ts1227
Posts: 12,319
Mar 30, 2012 11:00pm
YOUR NUMBERS:
2, 4, 23, 38, 46
Mega Ball: 23
IF NO ONE HITS: $975 Million
2, 4, 23, 38, 46
Mega Ball: 23
IF NO ONE HITS: $975 Million
chicago510
Posts: 5,728
Mar 30, 2012 11:01pm
2-4-23-38-46 MB-23
2, 4 and 23 were probably popular plays
2, 4 and 23 were probably popular plays
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Mar 30, 2012 11:07pm
Any you guys win?
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WebFire
Posts: 14,779
Mar 30, 2012 11:08pm
Sweet! I didn't hit a single number!
2kool4skool
Posts: 1,804
Mar 30, 2012 11:08pm
Can they tell if somebody one yet?
OSH
Posts: 4,145
Mar 30, 2012 11:08pm
Nothing here. Stupid Ohio Lottery website wouldn't load either.
I got 2 numbers on one ticket but missed on the MegaBall. That's it.
I got 2 numbers on one ticket but missed on the MegaBall. That's it.
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WebFire
Posts: 14,779
Mar 30, 2012 11:09pm
I think they know within the hour.2kool4skool;1132389 wrote:Can they tell if somebody one yet?
LJ
Posts: 16,351
Mar 30, 2012 11:10pm
Nothin
Lovejoy1984
Posts: 5,277
Mar 30, 2012 11:11pm
Anyone have the numbers?
Or was that what was posted above?
Or was that what was posted above?