I tried to do some research on the new scratch and win tickets for Oklahoma’s Education Lottery. I wanted to know what the odds were but not surprisingly, that information is nowhere to be found.
It turns out that the true odds on these types of games are rarely advertised. For example, check out this Illinois lottery website. For each of their instant win games, they list the overall odds of winning (including break-even prizes). Odds like 1 in 3.65 seem to be the norm. These odds are deceptive, because they give the impression that winning is easy. This is untrue. The odds of winning your dollar back are not too bad, but the odds of winning the big prize is extremely low. In the long run, the scratch and win player will lose money.
Since I could not find those odds, just for fun, here are some other interesting odds.
Heart Disease: 4 to 1
Cancer: 6 to 1
Being struck in your lifetime (Est. 80 years) 3000 to 1
Successfully navigating an asteroid field: 3720 to 1 (according to C-3P0)
Being dealt a royal flush: 649,750 to 1
Powerball (The overall odds of winning a prize): 35.61 to 1
Powerball (jackpot): 146,107,961 tO 1
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Oklahoma Education Lottery
2 comments:
Game ............... Odds
Lucky 7's ........... 1 in 4.72
$25,000 Jackpot .. 1 in 3.46
OK Gusher ......... 1 in 4.82
Rush to Cash ...... 1 in 4.82
- Oklahoman 10/9/05
Well, there you go. These are the overall odds, including break even prizes. Still, what are the odds of winning the $25,000 Jackpot?
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