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That only works if there can be only one winner. If you spend $250Mto win $292M, that seems like a sure bet. But someone else wins too, then you only won $146 m
by Jemaclus 11y ago
That only works if there can be only one winner. If you spend $250Mto win $292M, that seems like a sure bet. But someone else wins too, then you only won $146 million, so you actually lost $104M. I'm skeptical that the math works out, even if you're the only winner, though.
The lottery is pretty much designed so that the expected value (EV) of a ticket is much, much lower than what you pay for it. They always make more money than you win.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- kybernetikos 11y agoIn my calculation I took into account the risk of sharing the prize, although I had to make assumptions on how many other people were playing (you can get a sense of how many other people there are playing by how much the jackpot increases between draws). Unless my guess is wrong, I think it still works out even with sharing unless you happen to buy every ticket on the same draw that other people have had the same idea.