lottery tickets vs tournament poker

[KingAustin 0]

if you are better than 60% of the field in the ME, then, excluding luck, you should end up being eliminated WELL out of the cash. this is a losing proposition.in order for you to expect profit you should be better than 90% of the field, approx. where the cash starts.This is the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in a long while.If the average player in a tournament has a 12% chance of making the money, a player who is better than average has a greater than 12% chance of making the money. If you do not understand this, then there is no hope for you - in poker and in life.

lol

[teneight 1]

PUT IT ALL ON GREEN!

[Jdr999 0]

PUT IT ALL ON GREEN!

Quick way to lose 10 Grand.

[chrozzo 19]

PUT IT ALL ON GREEN!

Quick way to win $350,000

[PMJackson21 0]

I think it's funny how you all are having a conversation and are completely wrong. The odds of winning the powerball matching 5 numbers, 1-55 and then another number, (the powerball) 1-42.The odds: 1 in 146,107,962.00http://www.powerball.com/powerball/pb_prizes.aspNow, go get me a buyin for the WSOP ME!

what were they completely wrong about?

To match all 6 numbers in a lottery, your odds are aprox. 1 : 13,983,816.

Notice the odds of winning has an extra digit...makes a sliiiiight difference

I got that number here:http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk/faq/seeDocume...1&documentID=46Or, you can do it yourself here, which I haven't tried:http://www.webmath.com/lottery.htmlNot every version of the lottery is the same as powerball I believe.Patrick

[Jdr999 0]

PUT IT ALL ON GREEN!

Single 0's or double 0's?Also, if it is 2 0's, would you bet on one or the other, or both?

[KingAustin 0]

I think it's funny how you all are having a conversation and are completely wrong. The odds of winning the powerball matching 5 numbers, 1-55 and then another number, (the powerball) 1-42.The odds: 1 in 146,107,962.00http://www.powerball.com/powerball/pb_prizes.aspNow, go get me a buyin for the WSOP ME!

what were they completely wrong about?

To match all 6 numbers in a lottery, your odds are aprox. 1 : 13,983,816.

Notice the odds of winning has an extra digit...makes a sliiiiight difference

I got that number here:http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk/faq/seeDocume...1&documentID=46Or, you can do it yourself here, which I haven't tried:http://www.webmath.com/lottery.htmlNot every version of the lottery is the same as powerball I believe.Patrick

Ya, I guess I didnt take into account different lotteries. I was just using the main one used around here that's also used in 28 other states. My mistake.

[PMJackson21 0]

Ya, I guess I didnt take into account different lotteries. I was just using the main one used around here that's also used in 28 other states. My mistake.

Not sure if that is sarcasm or not, but...The odds of matching 6 out of 6 numbers exactly is what I cited, because it was the first thing I found on google this morning that gave a clear cut answer. However, if it will make you feel special, we can declare your number as the official 'correct odds' for lotteries. Better? :-)PatrickEDIT: And to be honest, I've never played the lottery in my life (besides last year's ME of course ;-) ), so I have no idea of the different variations, games, etc.

[KingAustin 0]

Ya, I guess I didnt take into account different lotteries. I was just using the main one used around here that's also used in 28 other states. My mistake.

Not sure if that is sarcasm or not, but...The odds of matching 6 out of 6 numbers exactly is what I cited, because it was the first thing I found on google this morning that gave a clear cut answer. However, if it will make you feel special, we can declare your number as the official 'correct odds' for lotteries. Better? :-)Patrick

Lol, no, wasn't sarcasm. Guess they are just setup differently. Sure doesnt sound fair if you have a 1:14,000,000 chance to win the same amount as I do with 1:146,000,000 odds :)Wow, just checked it, ours is up to $180 million. Time to go buy some tickets, if I never post again I either died or won.

[PMJackson21 0]

Ya, I guess I didnt take into account different lotteries. I was just using the main one used around here that's also used in 28 other states. My mistake.

Not sure if that is sarcasm or not, but...The odds of matching 6 out of 6 numbers exactly is what I cited, because it was the first thing I found on google this morning that gave a clear cut answer. However, if it will make you feel special, we can declare your number as the official 'correct odds' for lotteries. Better? :-)Patrick

Lol, no, wasn't sarcasm. Guess they are just setup differently. Sure doesnt sound fair if you have a 1:14,000,000 chance to win the same amount as I do with 1:146,000,000 odds :)Wow, just checked it, ours is up to $180 million. Time to go buy some tickets, if I never post again I either died or won.

Heh, good luck with that. :-)Win the lotto, and buy an online poker site...and rig it in your favor. Patrick

[AAsnake88 0]

I'd get more gratification from setting fire to $10,000 rather than buying 10,000 lottery tickets.The WSOP ME seat is a much better investment IMO.

[Swift_Psycho 1]

Really? I'm not challenging you, because I have no information that says otherwise, but that seems ridiculously high. Can you tell me where you aquired that percentage?

Apparently my number was a little high. I did a quick internet search and it appears that most states keep somewhere between 30% and 40%, not the 50% that I said. Still quite a hefty cut.

Freakin' yeah. I've never played the lottery, so I never bothered to find any of this stuff out. Quite frankly, I thought that there was no way that states could possibly get away with taking more than like 20% and hope that so many people would be dumb enough to buy tickets anyway. *shrug* I was wrong.

[mosley 0]

if you are better than 60% of the field in the ME, then, excluding luck, you should end up being eliminated WELL out of the cash. this is a losing proposition.in order for you to expect profit you should be better than 90% of the field, approx. where the cash starts.This is the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in a long while.If the average player in a tournament has a 12% chance of making the money, a player who is better than average has a greater than 12% chance of making the money. If you do not understand this, then there is no hope for you - in poker and in life.

the average player does not have a 12% chance of making the cash. if you are at a SnG with 4 donkeys, and Chan, Ivey, Negreanu and Juanda, that pays top spot only, are your chances one in nine?

[ArseneLupin3 0]

To match all 6 numbers in a lottery, your odds are aprox. 1 : 13,983,816.Ignoring skill advantage, your odds of winning the WSOP this last year were 1: 5,619 (although it might be closer to the 1:13 mil range for some people).Patrick

if you want to counter the OP's argument, at least make a sensible counter argument.to your argument, i say a lottery ticket costs $1 and could win $100 million or more, while a WSOP ticket costs $10,000 and could only win $7.5 million.

most big lotteries are won by more than one person

Not true.. most of the big lotteries have grand prize odds that are close to 1:100,000,000.powerball Grand Prize1 in 146,107,962mega millions grand prize1 in 175,711,536

[ArseneLupin3 0]

if you are better than 60% of the field in the ME, then, excluding luck, you should end up being eliminated WELL out of the cash. this is a losing proposition.in order for you to expect profit you should be better than 90% of the field, approx. where the cash starts.This is the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in a long while.If the average player in a tournament has a 12% chance of making the money, a player who is better than average has a greater than 12% chance of making the money. If you do not understand this, then there is no hope for you - in poker and in life.

the average player does not have a 12% chance of making the cash. if you are at a SnG with 4 donkeys, and Chan, Ivey, Negreanu and Juanda, that pays top spot only, are your chances one in nine?

If the structure is fast, yes.

[blueodum 0]

the average player does not have a 12% chance of making the cash. if you are at a SnG with 4 donkeys, and Chan, Ivey, Negreanu and Juanda, that pays top spot only, are your chances one in nine?We're talking about the WSOP ME in this thread.

[grocery_mony 8]

Gotta also use implied odds here. You get lucky and win the main event first prize is not the only money you will be making. you will get many endorsement and personal appearance oppurtunites. You will basically get a lucrative career from winning this one event which is potentionally worth more than the prize money. Plus you get the personal gratification of knowing you earned it over the lightning striking feeling of winning the lottery. P.S. Lottery is rigged...lol

[Abbaddabba 0]

The lottery tickets probably represent less of an expected loss to a good chunk of the posters in this thread.For reference, see the author of:

if you are better than 60% of the field in the ME, then, excluding luck, you should end up being eliminated WELL out of the cash. this is a losing proposition.  in order for you to expect profit you should be better than 90% of the field, approx. where the cash starts.

... Who doesnt understand the difference between the two meanings of "expectation". Let's see if you can spot the difference.

thats a fallacy... buying more than 1 ticket does not increase your chances of winning  and also 10,000 tickets out of 14 million possible combinations is a negligible amount... 13990000 still remaining = 99.93% combinations left

... and apparently no understanding of how to add probabilites. Here's a hint, you dont subtract 1 from the denominator for each ticket. You add one to the numerator.