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The best rule to follow to avoid getting duplicate numbers is to just not pick them at all. Quick Pick is a common lottery feature that just gives you random nu

The best rule to follow to avoid getting duplicate numbers is to just not pick them at all. Quick Pick is a common lottery feature that just gives you random numbers, and should give the best odds of choosing a number which no one else has. Any system your brain can come up with to choose “random” numbers is probably one that someone else came up with too!

scarmig 6y ago
It won't give you the best odds. A trivially constructed strategy with higher expected value: A surprising number of people choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 as their numbers. So, instead of a strategy of using Quick Pick, you could use a strategy of starting with Quick Pick and discarding the result until it's something other than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which you then use. That has a higher expected value than Quick Pick by itself. The number of people using this strategy is dwarfed by the number of people using the "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" strategy. This could be expanded to avoiding months, birthdays, etc.
- akozak 6y ago
  That's the HN I know and love.
- opinion-is-bad 6y ago
  Yes, this is a nice addition that will definitely cause a significant (thought very small magnitude) shift towards higher profits. Thanks!
- ninkendo 6y ago
  The odds of a quick pick coming up as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are roughly equivalent to winning the lottery in the first place, so “repeat the quick pick until you don’t get this particular combination” seems rather silly, no?
  - will4274 6y ago
    I think you're missing the point. The sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is just one of many common sequences people play. If you have a primitive bool IsCommonSequence(sequence), then you can do better than random by re-rolling whenever IsCommonSequence returns true. As illustrated by some of the other posts on the thread, your odds of getting a common sequence aren't totally astronomical
    - ninkendo 6y ago
      That’s not what scarmig said though: > you could use a strategy of starting with Quick Pick and discarding the result until it's something other than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which you then use

scarmig 6y ago

It won't give you the best odds. A trivially constructed strategy with higher expected value: A surprising number of people choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 as their numbers. So, instead of a strategy of using Quick Pick, you could use a strategy of starting with Quick Pick and discarding the result until it's something other than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which you then use. That has a higher expected value than Quick Pick by itself. The number of people using this strategy is dwarfed by the number of people using the "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" strategy. This could be expanded to avoiding months, birthdays, etc.

akozak 6y ago
That's the HN I know and love.
opinion-is-bad 6y ago
Yes, this is a nice addition that will definitely cause a significant (thought very small magnitude) shift towards higher profits. Thanks!
ninkendo 6y ago
The odds of a quick pick coming up as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are roughly equivalent to winning the lottery in the first place, so “repeat the quick pick until you don’t get this particular combination” seems rather silly, no?
- will4274 6y ago
  I think you're missing the point. The sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is just one of many common sequences people play. If you have a primitive bool IsCommonSequence(sequence), then you can do better than random by re-rolling whenever IsCommonSequence returns true. As illustrated by some of the other posts on the thread, your odds of getting a common sequence aren't totally astronomical
  - ninkendo 6y ago
    That’s not what scarmig said though: > you could use a strategy of starting with Quick Pick and discarding the result until it's something other than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which you then use