# Winning the lottery with a PhD in statistics



## Daniel (Aug 11, 2011)

*Joan R. Ginther who won lottery 4 times is a Stanford University statistics PhD *

The luck of Joan R. Ginther, 63, from Texas, is being called into question by some who believe her wins were more than just coincidence...

First, she won $5.4 million, then a decade later, she won $2 million, then two years later $3 million and in the summer of 2010, she hit a $10 million jackpot.

The odds of this has been calculated at one in eighteen septillion and *luck like this could only come once every quadrillion [one thousand million million] years. *

Mr Rich details the myriad ways in which Ms Ginther could have gamed the system - including the fact that she may have figured out the algorithm that determines where a winner is placed in each run of scratch-off tickets. 

He believes that after Ms Ginther figured out the algorithm, it wouldn’t be difficult to determine where the tickets would be shipped, as the shipping schedule is apparently fixed, and there were a few sources she could have found it out from.

Read more: Joan R. Ginther who won lottery 4 times is a Stanford University statistics PhD | Mail Online


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## Banned (Aug 13, 2011)

Interesting.  I wonder if she is a long lost relative of mine (or just wants to be generous, perhaps ).  In all seriousness, she's either very smart, very lucky, or both.


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## David Baxter PhD (Aug 13, 2011)

Human beings have a strange distrust of coincidences, despite the fact that statistically we know they will occur with some regularity.


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## David Baxter PhD (Aug 13, 2011)

See also http://forum.psychlinks.ca/just-cha...true-meaning-of-statistical-significance.html


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## Daniel (Aug 13, 2011)

In this case though, I'm sure some algorithm-cracking was involved (as well as luck).

There was this case in Toronto where another statistician cracked the code.  Being Canadian, he dutifully reported the problem:



> Instead of secretly plundering the game, he decided to go to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Srivastava thought its top officials might want to know about his discovery. Who knows, maybe they’d even hire him to give them statistical advice. “People often assume that I must be some extremely moral person because I didn’t take advantage of the lottery,” he says. “I can assure you that that’s not the case. I’d simply done the math and concluded that beating the game wasn’t worth my time.”
> 
> Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code | Wired Magazine


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## Yuray (Aug 13, 2011)

> The odds of this has been calculated at one in eighteen septillion and *luck like this could only come once every quadrillion [one thousand million million] years. *


A long shot, but as the odds indicate, possible.


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## Daniel (Aug 13, 2011)

Like the odds of finding a good pair of shoes at Walmart.


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## Yuray (Aug 14, 2011)

> Like the odds of finding a good pair of shoes at Walmart.


Hmmmm............what can I say.............I guess I'm another one in a septilion statistic!


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## Banned (Aug 14, 2011)

Er, my favourite pair of shoes came from Walmart.  A long time ago.  Yay!  I beat the odds!!  haha.


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## Daniel (Aug 14, 2011)

> A long time ago.



...in a galaxy far, far away.

---------- Post added at 12:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 AM ----------

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## Yuray (Aug 14, 2011)

Good one Daniel:lol:


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