Comments on: Marketman Wins at Grand Lotto55!!!

By: vhanya

vhanya — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:34:39 +0000

here’s the more concrete computation on the lotto combinations. Since the 6/55 lotto chooses 6 (in any order) out of 55 numbers. the correct formula is:

n!
_______ , (n) is the total number in the lottery (55); 6 for the combination
6! (n-6)!

for those who don’t know what (!) is. it means factorial. For example: 6! is 6x5x4x3x2x1.

So to compute:

55x54x53x52x51x50x49………and so on
_________________________________________
(6x5x4x3x2x1) (49x48x47….and so on)

If you check, we can actually cancel the 49!, so what will be left is this:

55x54x53x52x51x50
___________________
(6x5x4x3x2x1)

Which is equal to:

20,872,566,000 = 28,989,675 total combinations
_______________
720

HTH! =)

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:20:05 +0000

A few days ago, I was just wondering how I can get the equation to compute the number of lotto combinations. And i find it here!

By: Jayson

Jayson — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:33:52 +0000

nice post..marami talaga umaasa na manalo sa lotto…buti po may napanalunan kayo kahit paano..ako sa buong buhay ko diko pa naranasan manalo sa game of chance gaya ng lotto,raffle atbp..baka naiipon lang at kung swertehin ay bumuhos nang sobra sobra..hehe

inisa-isa nyo po ba icompute hanggang 55 yung probability na manalo? sa scientific calculator mas madali.. input 55, SHIFT Ã· para lumabas yung C for combination, input 6 .. kaya itsura 55C6 then = …exact sagot ay 28989675 chances manalo ng jackpot..

By: teeejeee

teeejeee — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:29:09 +0000

haha i got the thrills running through me reading this

By: joselle robles

joselle robles — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:57:45 +0000

i’ve been using the “lucky pick” combination in the lotto and so far…i’ve won twice the second major prize although not in the Grand Lotto…that’s 20k for the 6/42 Lotto…and betting it always in my favorite outlet…a mall in manila that generates the most winners…so here’s to us…Good Luck on the next draw….

By: Lhai

Lhai — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:32:24 +0000

If I win the jackpot tonight, I’d finance all of MM’s feeding program.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:18:09 +0000

Muzzy, folks who use birthdays as a number automatically choose within the range of 1 to 31, thereby automatically reducing their propensity to choose between 32 to 55. Though they may adjust by choosing some in the 32 to 55 range, that is not likely that all of them would do that. So if most folks pick based on emotional or date driven criteria, there will be a heavier concentration in the 1 to 31 range, which is not the case in a truly random scenario. Also, human nature biases selection of numbers that are close together, say 44, 45, 46, whereas a computer does not. Random, is supposedly, truly random. In the end, it IS a crapshoot with 1 in 29 million chances and incredibly difficult to win… But statistically, I think a random pick is as good, OR ACTUALLY better chance of providing a winning combination…

By: Muzzy

Muzzy — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:12:49 +0000

Not really sure what you mean by choosing random numbers as the “Smarter” way to bet. The person who chooses numbers by birthdays has the same chance as you at winning, I think — assuming the two of you buy one ticket each. I agree there’s a better chance of someone winning if all numbers were picked randomly, but not someone in particular. One combination has an equal chance of being chosen as any other, randomly picked or not. But maybe i’m missing something. i’m just a liberal arts major after all.

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:20:55 +0000

to compute for lotto odds, you can use the nCr (combination) of scientific calculators

n = 55
r = 6

ans = 28,989,675 possible combinations

nPr on the other hand computes permutations, when a number can be repeated

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:33:57 +0000

Noel and EGR, I too believed it was a formula similar to the ones you mention. In fact, I had written a comment on how the odds quoted in the papers seemed wrong. But a bit of research and I landed on the sites that do the calculations that make sense… amongst other things, numbers can’t be repeated…