pryan67
Forum Supporter
This contest started just after Memorial Day...let's have it end (with me winning ) just before Labor day
Good luck everyone.
Good luck everyone.
Looks like no winner again...I took a quick look at all of the guess for the week, and I don’t think anyone even hit the right combination if you combined the numbers across all four guesses! I know you can’t argue with math, but I’m beginning to think the 1 in 606 chance is even more difficult than it seems.
In fact, the more I think about it, the odds are longer than that...the 1 in 606 odds of matching 3 numbers is based on selecting 5 numbers like you would if you bought a lotto ticket. Since we’re only selecting 3 numbers, our odds of matching 3 numbers are drastically reduced. I’m no statistician, so I have no idea how to calculate the actual odds. And, of course, i’m discounting the Megaball in all this based on the assumption that someone makes enough posts to make the megaball irrelevant...otherwise the odds increase even more drastically!
We’ve only got 30 or so guys participating each week...assuming 4 unique guesses each, we’re only covering about 120 combinations each week. We’re in for a long haul!!
It would still be 1:606, since it doesn't matter WHICH of the five numbers picked match...
Looks like no winner again...I took a quick look at all of the guess for the week, and I don’t think anyone even hit the right combination if you combined the numbers across all four guesses! I know you can’t argue with math, but I’m beginning to think the 1 in 606 chance is even more difficult than it seems.
In fact, the more I think about it, the odds are longer than that...the 1 in 606 odds of matching 3 numbers is based on selecting 5 numbers like you would if you bought a lotto ticket. Since we’re only selecting 3 numbers, our odds of matching 3 numbers are drastically reduced. I’m no statistician, so I have no idea how to calculate the actual odds. And, of course, i’m discounting the Megaball in all this based on the assumption that someone makes enough posts to make the megaball irrelevant...otherwise the odds increase even more drastically!
We’ve only got 30 or so guys participating each week...assuming 4 unique guesses each, we’re only covering about 120 combinations each week. We’re in for a long haul!!
I’m pretty sure the probability goes down, and pretty significantly...when you pick for a lotto ticket, it’s easier to match 3 numbers because you have 5 numbers in the pool as potential matches, which ultimately calculates out to the 1 in 606 chance. With only 3 numbers in a guess, the chances go down. The extreme example of what I’m trying to point out is that if someone were allowed to pick 70 numbers in each guess, obviously they would be guaranteed a match. But no need to go to that extreme - surely you can see if you were allowed to put 10 numbers in per guess, it would be easier to match 3....see what I mean?
Ah...got it...I think you're right...BCD said he'll work out the odds...so I won't bother
I did one better...had a friend of mine (the author of a book on statistics, and a brilliant engineer) work them out for me.
here's what he said
How many ways can you draw three numbers from 70?
N = 70! / (70-3)!/3! = 54,740
How many valid three number combinations can a set of five numbers contain?
M = 5! / (5-3)! / 3! = 10
(If the five numbers were 1-2-3-4-5, valid combinations would be: 5-4-3, 5-4-2, 5-4-1, 5-3-2, 5-3-1, 5-2-1, 4-3-2, 4-3-1, 4-2-1, 3-2-1)
So the odds of drawing one of the 10 sets of valid triplets from 54,740 is:
1:5,474.
So yeah...we may be in this a LONG time
He'll verify the numbers when he gets home from a bear hunt, but I think he's right.
this week I was only 3 numbers off LOL