In 2023 London banker turned bookmaker had a plan . Buy every combination , 25.8 potential numbers, at $1 a piece with a hope of winning $95 million jackpot . Spoiler alert , it worked. I hope you can open the link .
Gambler took down the TX lottery .
- Thread starter Catch1lion
- Start date
If he took the lump sum payment, how much was it? And if somebody else also had the same numbers, then he’s probably taking home less than he spent isn’t he? I wouldn’t say there was no risk involved.
While the TX ploy wasn’t illegal , it reminds me of the PA fix that was.
en.wikipedia.org
1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal - Wikipedia
Are there any Brits left in London ?London banker - Zeljko Ranogajec. That checks.
went on a British cruise line, SAGA, 998 Brits, 2 yanks Mr & Mrs Sluggo good trip btw
It's obviously on the state, not the winners/investors. They followed the rules.
They won it fair and square, sure. The lotteries will do what they can to keep this from happening again. It’s possible that I misunderstand the lottery companies point of view on this thing, maybe it’s just another day at the office for the lottery companies, not sure.
At the end of the day, it’s good for the lottery’s/state’s bottom line as more …but bad from a PR standpoint, so I’m sure they want to stop it.
I am very surprised that a lottery would offer something that seems like positive EV. I always assumed that the post-tax payout would always be smaller than implied by the odds to win. If they chopped the pot in this case, I wonder how close it it to break-even. What is the take home after taxes? 50 mill? That also assumes they take it over 30 years?
It’s a form of arbitrage and something often lauded in the finance world.While the TX ploy wasn’t illegal , it reminds me of the PA fix that was.
1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal - Wikipedia
If state lotteries want to be greedy and promote big prizes, then they’ll continue attracting this type of action until they make it illegal.
Frankly, many drawing type contests I’ve seen limit the total # of tickets available and cap the number one party can buy. That’s an easy change for lotteries if they worry about these optics.
Maybe but doesn’t Texas also lack a state income tax? I know CA doesn’t tax lotto winnings.
So you form a TX-based LLC for tax purposes, pony up 25% to the Feds and pocket the rest.
I’m sure these players would not be after the prize if they’re not making a hefty profit. These jobs are a PITA.
Yeah, looks like Texas does not tax lottery. That means they would have to have a 3 way split to lose money.
I would assume they’re paying federal tax…however, they can write off all of the losing tickets and other expenses. I agree though, 2 additional winners and it’s likely break even or a slight loss
They sought out a lottery format least likely to have multiple winners . They did omit a few possible numbers like 1,2,3,4,5,6 which are commonly played. Because if they won it would be a big split .
Ah, forgot about writing off gambling losses. That should help quite a bit.
It’s the silver lining to the horrific beat I took yesterday in a Masters pool.
Don't leave us hanging. I love a good bad beat story.It’s the silver lining to the horrific beat I took yesterday in a Masters pool.
I don't...ugh.
Was leading a pool coming down the stretch, other guy that had a chance to catch me was done, and I just had Aberg left. Needed him to play the last two holes in +3 or better. He made bogey on 17, so just needed a double or better on 18 to win it. He makes triple, I finish 2nd, and my payout goes from $1800 to $450. Brutal.
Plus add in the winning tickets that weren’t grand prize winners, assuming the Texas state lottery pays for getting 4 or 5 correct numbers.
Oof. That's pretty bad.
I should have said, I love a good bad beat story when it's not me! (or when Scott Van Pelt narrates it in the role of the victim).
Yea, SVP and Stanford Steve have me dying in the fall. I don’t watch much of it outside of football season unfortunately…I should though since it’s always a great segment.
I hate it when I don't win as big as I could have...
What would have happened if he was 4 or 5 over on that last hole.
That would be my luck.
I finished 16 shots ahead of 3rd, so he would have had to make a 23 on it to hurt me more. So I guess I can take solace that it wasn’t worse, lol.
I know little about lotteries, but is this the kind the pot grows due to a series of drawings without a winner? If so, doesn’t that buildup accumulate an expected wad of cash the lottery is sitting on just to reach a case where this strategy can be played? I understand the undesirability of losing drawing on say the 8th round, but what’s the full probabilistic math?
Yes, this lottery continues to accumulate if no one wins…and thus it hit the point where there was a positive expected value for playing all combinations (well, almost all).
So knowing this is a gross oversimplification, the lotteries’ winnings are boosted when you have duplication of entries (because players generally don’t coordinate their numbers at scale),no? Higher duplication rates means higher number of “holes” for any given number of entries. That is, do they pay out a fixed total winner pot regardless of number of winning entries? So the strategy here is really one of internal coordination so you don’t duplicate any entry among your set, knowing any duplication outside your play is out of your control … ?
There is a fixed amount each drawing that would be paid to all winners...one winner, and they get it all. Multiple, and they split it "x" ways. And each drawing that doesn't have a winner, the lottery increases the prize for the next drawing.
