Lottery isn't necessarily rigged. Most people just can't grasp the meaning of probability, even with a simple 5/36 lottery, and that "someone will possibly win but is massively unlikely to be you." That and the fact that our brains insist on extrapolating order and predictable patterns from randomness when there genuinely is none. Lottery is pure chance that can't be gamed by skill or analysis. The only "rigging" is that most states have done a really good job of implementing randomness.
I used to work for a gaming company. The then largest in the world. You are correct. That said, if you pay enough you get extra features which allows for two features. One, various methods of skimming. Two, means to know/determine the winning numbers. Not everyone does this. But it's especially popular in South America.
You might be "shocked" to learn the mafia is heavily involved in this industry.
Really interesting, and I'm not surprised.
I've worked in the simulation industry for more than 25 years and became very interested in the Florida lottery several years ago, specifically their fantasy 5 game, a 5/36. A quick review of their games made me realize at the time that the 1-in-376,992 odds of winning were the best of all their offerings. A win would not make you rich but would provide a nice payout. So I set up a simulation and analysis system to help me decide if such would be a useful playing aid. Florida had 20 years of winning numbers accessible online plus posted daily winning numbers.
I wrote some software that did daily analyses of the numbers for all the trends that I could imagine might be useful - histograms of number frequencies, standard deviations, pairing frequencies. These were placed in daily updated databases. I then wrote what I called "pickers." I had a lot of fun with this part but basically these were number selection algorithms that used the statistics collected to pick winning numbers. I went through every lottery expert book that I could access Plus came up with some ideas of my own. The basic daily sequence of operation concluded by going back to the beginning of the 20-year period and letting my collection of algorithms play the lottery each day and I would plot their success.
I concluded that randomness is a bitch. No picking algorithm attained a higher degree of success than did my pure random pickers. The very difficult thing to believe and understand is the line that demarcates past and present. You can look backwards and see trends and patterns emerge, plainly. It is very hard to accept that they break completely when they cross the line of present into future, that they have zero bearing on what will happen. I knew this to be true but had to show it to myself in pictures.
You should get into crypto... Just saying.
Ya, they hire big number theory guys to work on crazy probabilities.
People actually have gamed the system like you tried. But using a slightly different approach. Things like paint weight and surface area distribution on air flow and such have been used. Now all those balls are crafted to counter such efforts. But it wasn't always so.
Interesting. You mean casino games can be rigged or lottery? Which casino games can have predetermined winners?
All of those fall into the "gaming" segment. My office used to be at one of a state's backup lottery sites. I personally knew many of the coders on some of these gaming systems. They always had good stories and inside scoops.
Different guys did most of the casino games. But they are involved in many non-casino games like keno.
Afaik, the extra features are built into the lotteries. But if you're well connected, all of the electronic casino games can be rigged. Supposedly the casino cops watch for that.
There is a ton of psychology involved in gaming today. They legally manipulate everything you see. Even wins and loses. They are even allowed to manipulate wins and losses, so long as they remain within the random statistical distributions certified on the machine in question. Which means scheduled wins and loses. Usually designed to maximize physiological effect and peak gaming hours.
Which means, that time you thought you were close to winning wasn't so. They just wanted to make you think so. And that low pay out win was there to keep you losing longer. In this way, they keep people losing more. Which is, of of course, more profit for them with the same odds. So on and so on.
Internally lotteries were called poverty tax.
Excellent... Now do exponential growth.
It's just data analysis. Who outside of the lottery officials actually knows what goes down then the numbers are "picked"? All of the aggregate data from ticket sales could easily be parsed and the picked from a random pool of "not winners". Just my thoughts. I have a hard time looking at the world around me and believing that if it can be gamed/rigged that no one is already in on the game.
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