Assuming a unique jackpot winner, it is not difficult to find the expected value and the variance of the probability distribution for the dollar prize amount. In certain circumstances, the expected value is positive, which might suggest that it would be desirable to buy Powerball tickets. ...
You can download thePowerball expected value worksheet here, which includes all of the calculations for with and without the jackpot. With the cost of a ticket at $2.00 and an expected value of $0.32, you can expect to lose $2.00 – $0.32 = $1.68 on each ticket. In other words, if ...
personally, i think it's a scam for jackpot games to advertise the top prize by its annuity value. winners always take the cash value, which is usually less than half of what the annuity is. "i think it's a scam for jackpot games to advertise the top prize by its annuity value" ...
For example, the jackpot in a PowerBall™ lot- tery drawing was $110 million. Does this mean the winning ticket was worth $110 million? The answer is no because the jackpot was actually going to pay out over a 20-year period at a rate of $5.5 million per year. How much was the...
as a math teacher and a guy who “knows numbers,” whether I play the lottery. Usually I just smile and tell them I buy the occasional scratch ticket for the fun of it, but almost never anything beyond that. It would require a “special occasion” or a “huge jackpot” for me to ...