The probability stated in the article is incorrect. I have no idea how the mathematics professor calculated his odds, but they're not correct. A collision hap

The probability stated in the article is incorrect. I have no idea how the mathematics professor calculated his odds, but they're not correct. A collision happens any time two seven-digit numbers are identical. They don't both have to be 3511587. They could have just as easily been 3511586, for example. If the lottery ticket contains a 7-digit number and only the digits 1-9 are allowed, then the probability of a collision is 1 in 9^7, or roughly 1 in 4.8 million. Of course, I agree with the commenter above who hypothesized that it wasn't truly random chance; the "current time as random seed" sounds awfully likely.