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'Lucky' woman who won lottery four times outed as Stanford University statistics PhD [Millions]
Daily Mail ^ | 08/07/11 | RACHEL QUIGLEY

Posted on 08/07/2011 7:30:35 PM PDT by BunnySlippers

First, she won $5.4 million, then a decade later, she won $2 million, then two years later $3 million and finally, in the spring of 2008, she hit a $10 million jackpot.

The odds of this has been calculated at one in eighteen septillion and luck like this could only come once every quadrillion years.

--

A professor at the Institute for the Study of Gambling & Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno, told Mr Rich: 'When something this unlikely happens in a casino, you arrest ‘em first and ask questions later.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: lottery
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To: Southack

Thank you. That was my first thought. But “moderately”?


41 posted on 08/07/2011 8:18:54 PM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS . . .)
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To: Durus
A casino doesn't have arrest powers, they can only ask a person to leave. One wonders what the professor actually does for a living that he doesn't know that.

They may not have arrest powers, but Frankie, Rocco, and "The Neck" will make sure you spend a little quality time on a long drive in the desert, just you, them, and a 34 ounce Louisville slugger...;)

42 posted on 08/07/2011 8:19:54 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: anymouse

He originally thought he would win 32.6% of the prizes. He said he’d have to figure out what happened.


43 posted on 08/07/2011 8:21:54 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: BunnySlippers
Back in the 60s ESSO had a scratch off game (IIRC, Heads or Tails) A young fellow figured out how to win at it. ESSO didn't believe him, so they ignored him. Finally, (I can't remember what changed their minds) they called him in for a meeting. They gave him a stack of the cards, he went into another room, performed his magic and returned with a fistful of winners. I don't remember how much they gave him for his system, but I do remember that part of the pay-off was a tuition-free college education.
44 posted on 08/07/2011 8:22:50 PM PDT by Roccus (Obama & Holder LLP, Procurers of fine arms to the most discerning drug lords (202) 456-1414)
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To: Southack

“It’s moderately suspicious that 3 winning scratchoff tickets were shipped to the same small minimart.”

Actually, three different million dollar scratch tickets were won at a little convenience store a half mile from me over a period of about 3 years.

It does happen.


45 posted on 08/07/2011 8:59:49 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: xzins
If she won, she won. What’s the beef?

Exactly.
If the administrators of the lottery are inept and incompetent, it's their crime.

Using math is not illegal, even though Hussein's entire regime seems to be totally unfamiliar with it.

46 posted on 08/07/2011 9:04:04 PM PDT by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: Durus
A casino doesn't have arrest powers, they can only ask a person to leave.

Cheating a casino is a crime in Nevada. They don't ask such people to leave. They call the police. (The ones they ask to leave are mostly blackjack players who utilize winning strategies, but are not cheating.)

ML/NJ

47 posted on 08/07/2011 9:12:58 PM PDT by ml/nj
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To: BunnySlippers
Unless she did something like counterfeiting the lottery tickets, she did nothing wrong or illegal. If she was able to statistically find some way of "beating" the lottery, more power to her. It just means that the government lottery actuaries were wrong.

Counting cards in Vegas casinos isn't illegal, and it's not even cheating. The casinos can choose who they will allow to gamble, and they only want to allow people in who can't even or even beat the odds.

Mark

48 posted on 08/07/2011 9:21:28 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: BunnySlippers

Geesh, don’t let Obama read words like “quadrillion and septillion”!


49 posted on 08/07/2011 9:23:28 PM PDT by TheConservativeParty (PALIN 45 -The cure for "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Resisting Tyranny Since 1-20-2009)
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To: Revolting cat!

That describes evolution and the missing links.


50 posted on 08/07/2011 9:26:33 PM PDT by SeaHawkFan
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To: Durus
A casino doesn't have arrest powers, they can only ask a person to leave. One wonders what the professor actually does for a living that he doesn't know that.

You're right, they do not have "arrest" powers. However, they DO have "detention" powers, just like a store security guard can detain a shoplifting suspect, who can then be turned over to the police to be arrested.

Mark

51 posted on 08/07/2011 9:28:59 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: mnehring
lazlo was the best

He had cool pajamas

Mark

52 posted on 08/07/2011 9:33:27 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: BunnySlippers

Maybe this woman was an heiress and spent $50M on scratch-off tickets — just to get her name in the paper every couple of years.


53 posted on 08/07/2011 9:43:09 PM PDT by AZLiberty (No tag today.)
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To: Durus

I saw an article once in a Las Vegas newspaper about a guy who was a card counter, which is legal.

A casino didn’t like what he was doing, so the casino security guards, some of whom were moonlighting cops, dragged him into a back room. They searched him, even removed his pants. A picture of him sitting handcuffed in a chair in his boxers accompanied the article. After interrogating him, they let him go, and banned him from the casino. Las Vegas Metro showed up during all this, but they did nothing to help the man. He sued, but I’m not sure if he won his case.


54 posted on 08/07/2011 10:25:55 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (Obama inherited a mild recession from George W. Bush and turned it into a major depression.)
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To: festusbanjo
If you flip a coin 9 times and it comes up heads each time, what are the odds of the tenth flip showing up as heads...still 50%.

Exactly.

The gambler fallacy is that somehow the next event will be influenced by the last.

Stats are history, not prophecy.

55 posted on 08/07/2011 11:19:22 PM PDT by fortheDeclaration (When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn (Pr.29:2))
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To: BunnySlippers

When I computerized a customer back in the early 80’s we tracked each batch of scratcher tickets. You would pay say $60 bucks for 100 tickets where there would be $35 of instant winners in each batch ($5 was the store profit). The store would report sold tickets and instant winners. Had I been so inclined I could tell you which stores had the greatest chance of selling an instant winner. I’m sure the store managers had figured this out too.


56 posted on 08/07/2011 11:34:57 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Obama get our AAA back.)
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To: Durus

I think he’s probably a Las Vegas hitman called “The Professor.” He teaches classes in “gaming” at the “university.” wink, wink


57 posted on 08/08/2011 12:19:23 AM PDT by Rocky (REPEAL IT!)
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To: BunnySlippers
it wouldn’t be too difficult to then determine where the tickets would be shipped, as the shipping schedule is apparently fixed, and there were a few sources she could have found it out from.

Say no more

58 posted on 08/08/2011 3:54:03 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (From her lips to the voters' ears: Debbie Wasserman Schultz: "We own the economy" June 15, 2011)
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To: Rocky

That is what it sounds like...


59 posted on 08/08/2011 5:40:03 AM PDT by Durus (You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: BunnySlippers

She won three of her wins off of scratch-off tickets from the same convenience store in Texas.

There is NO way that the process is random. There is, at a minimum, a serious flaw in how Texas distributes its scratch-off games. There is a possibility of a serious flaw in the Texas lottery security. There is a possibility of a some serious insider information.

But there is no way that the simple possesion of a thorough knowledge of statistics would help you win scratch-off games that are ran fairly and randomly.

Here’s a hint: she is a Las Vegas resident. Why is she buying scratch off games in Texas?


60 posted on 08/08/2011 6:13:07 AM PDT by kidd
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