The odds that a Mega Millions player has of winning the $1,100 million that is being drawn this Friday are the same, regardless of whether he opts for a “Quick Pick” (random selection of numbers by the machine) or if you choose the numbers individually.
This was explained by Steven Díaz, professor of mathematics at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
In an article on the university news portal, Díaz, however, indicated that there are several points that must be taken into account if the person decides to select the numbers. One of these, for example, is the probability that other players choose the same number.
“As all the numbers are the same, practically the chances of winning are the same, whether you choose yourself or let the computer do it”, highlighted the professor.
“There is one more thing to consider: you don’t just want to win, you want to be the only winner so you don’t have to split the jackpot. If you select (the numbers), unless you are careful, you may fall into certain patterns and pick a number that other people have picked. If the computer has a good random number generator, it would be less likely to pick the same number as someone else. On the other hand, if you do a study of what numbers people tend to select, you might be able to make a better choice than the computer. Remember that I am discussing trying to increase your chances of being the only winner if you win, not increasing your chances of winning”, stated the expert in numbers.
The draw for the multi-million dollar prize will take place this Friday at 025 pm Eastern time.
Each Mega Millions ticket costs $2.
In the last draw, this Tuesday, no one won the jackpot. Since last April no jackpot winners have been reported, so the sum has been increasing.
The odds of winning the jackpot in this lottery game are 1 in 303 millions.
You may be interested in:
Jackpocket Lottery, the online application with which you can buy your ticket for the draw this Friday from anywhere the $1,025 million Mega Millions