General Question

xichyu's avatar

Is the previous result of lotteries useful for predicting the numbers of a lottery ticket?

Asked by xichyu (222points) May 29th, 2016

Is the previous result of lotteries useful for predicting the numbers of a lottery ticket?

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9 Answers

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

No. Every time is random.

kritiper's avatar

No. Every time is the same as the first time.

Ltryptophan's avatar

As long as you continue to not see the same numbers ever, then you know it’s futile to play old numbers!

But, the odds are so remote it’s always futile.

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

Potentially but very unlikely because these potential reasons are usually known and dealt with.
Example: roulette results can be recorded and results plotted over many hundreds of spins. Statistically certain numbers will be favored because the wheel is not 100% perfect. I remember a documentary where someone did this and started winning big. The casino caught on and started swapping out the hardware to screw up any chance of tracking the bias. For the lotto it depends on the hardware used to pick the numbers. If it’s done with software then forget it.

CWOTUS's avatar

Not if the lottery is run fairly and honestly. As @ARE_you_kidding_me notes, if statistical analysis / close observation shows that there are uncorrected flaws in the selection system, then it may be possible to make some generalized predictions about some of the numbers. Maybe. Some numbers. That would hardly lead to a generalized success, but in that case it’s not completely impossible.

In a well-run lottery, the administrators would be looking just as closely at the selection process to see if they could make the same types of predictions, and then make appropriate corrections.

imrainmaker's avatar

It’s not like giving exam..by which you’ll know questions that might be asked and expected answers..

Thammuz's avatar

No, and thinking so is called Gambler’s fallacy, a well known misunderstanding of statistical theory.

gorillapaws's avatar

Nope. Nada. Nein. 没有

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