Chances

The mathematical essence of any lottery is chances. So, for example, if an organization sold 1745 charitable tickets, numbered from 1 to 1745, and only one prize is put to the drawing, the chances for this prize from a person who bought only 1 ticket will be 1,745 to 1. If a person buys 5 tickets, his chances are 1745 to 5, i.e. 349 to 1.

The chances for winning lotteries, both state and held by various charitable organizations, are built on the principle that the winning number or set of numbers are chosen by participants at random. Participating in national lotteries, many people choose numbers of fate or date of birth, counting them "their happy"; others deliberately prefer to choose at random, which is due to psychological factors. In fact, one number is no better than any other, and the combination of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 has the same chances as in 6, 8, 19, 23, 42 and 51.

In the national lottery, the odds against winning are astronomically small - millions to one. Players who pay 100 rubles for 100 tickets are more likely to win a prize than those who paid only 1 ruble. But, on the other hand, they have the chances to lose their money. In lotteries of this scale, the odds against winning are so great that a player who pays only 1 ruble is in roughly the same conditions as a player who paid 100 rubles or more.

A gambler should always ask himself: what are my chances?