Euromillions lottery and luck (1 Viewer)

CJ_London

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Yesterday I was feeling lucky and bought an entry for £2.50. You've got to be in it to win right?

I won £2.40 so not unlucky, but not really lucky either.

What I did notice though was the UK seem to win between 20% and 35% of each prize. I checked a few weeks and this seems to be consistent.

The population of the UK is 66m, whilst for the whole of the EU it is 508m - 13% - I know this is the whole population, not just those eligible to play, but this is rough statistics.

So this means either UK players are luckier than the EU as a whole, or a much higher proportion of players are from the UK, the rest of Europe (perhaps wisely) recognising they are not going to be that lucky.

I suspect it is the latter, I don't believe luck favours the few - but you do have to be in it to win it.

I don't know much about the Euromillions lottery, I know we pay more in the UK than the EU, but there is also the UK millionaire element which might redress that balance.

I also don't know how the profits are distributed to charity - in proportion to what each country has spent in buying tickets perhaps?

Not sure where to take these observations, but if anyone has info that would refine the numbers it could be interesting to see how much of a gambling nation the UK really is. Perhaps a gambling ethos is what has pushed us towards brexit?
 

Minty

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My understanding is that the EU / GBP difference is made up for by the UK millionaires additional prizes.

There is a break down of the prize funds on the lottery site. Bot the UK and Euro lotteries are run by Camelot.
 

CJ_London

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There is a break down of the prize funds on the lottery site.
I know, that is where I got the 20-35% from:)
 

AccessBlaster

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Yesterday I was feeling lucky and bought an entry for £2.50. You've got to be in it to win right?

I won £2.40 so not unlucky, but not really lucky either.
Just to be clear, you won less than you entered? Usually it's a 1:1 winning ratio or higher. Maybe I am missing something. Okay more than one line, got it.:eek:
 
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CJ_London

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The_Doc_Man

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The USA Mega-Millions and PowerBall lotteries are no better at odds. I've played a few times when the prize gets up high enough to whet my interest. And CJ, it is not easy getting 2 numbers on this side of the pond either.

I once bought a multi-line ticket with the "quick pick" (randomized) option and hit five numbers... one on each of five lines. Don't ask me to repeat what I said at the time. It would probably melt some sensitive piece of networking equipment along the path from me to the forum.
 

kevlray

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Here in California you can buy scratch off tickets to see if you win anything. So the last time I bought any tickets was many years ago. The reason I do not buy them anymore. I bought 20 tickets (all at once) and I did not win anything.



Interesting to note there is a Nicolas Cage movie where he plays a con man (Matchstick Men). So to prove a con he buys a ticket using the same numbers as had won the day before. The clerk behind the counter said something like this 'Do you what the odds are that the same numbers would win again', I wanted to shout through the screen, The same odds as any number winning idiot.
 
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Insane_ai

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The lottery is an entertainment expense, not an investment strategy. - my .02
 

The_Doc_Man

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AI, you have spoken truth!

Just like a ticket to WWE Championship Wrestling is an evening of entertainment but not an evening of sports.
 

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