It makes no difference
"One, two, three, four, five and six. Why not play them?"
"You crazy? That'll never happen."
"Last week's winning numbers were three, thirteen, eighteen, twenty-six, thirty-nine and fifty-two, how about that?"
"Same six numbers twice in a row, what are the odds of that?"
"Same as if you picked one, two, three, four, five and six."
"See what I mean, never happen!"
"What are your numbers?"
"Four and six for my son's birthday, fourteen for my favorite baseball player as a kid, twenty-four because as a kid I always thought I'd get married at twenty-four and didn't until I was thirty-four, saving ten years of grief. So I'll throw in ten. I once walked into a bar in Elko, placed one ten buck bet on thirty-three, which was my house address as a kid, it hit for the three hundred sixty buck return, so that's in."
" Just as likely as any other numbers, like one, two, three, four, five, and six. "
"Now I know you craaaaazy, man, that's never gonna happen!"
"Sorry guys, too late, computer won't take any more bets."
"Shit! Man, I felt good this week, all this talk of one, two, three, four, five and six made me miss it! You gonna owe me a hunnert million when they hit!"
I'd like to say that one through six hit, or our latecomer's numbers, in a cruel twist, but no, it was two, three, four, five, six and seven. The lone winner picked her lucky numbers.
yeah, the instinctive realization that the odds of 123456 are one in a trillionbillion, and the complete refusal to believe the odds are the same for whatever #s you happen to choose.
An interesting approach to the theme challenge, Walter. I like the voice: "Shit! Man, I felt good this week, all this talk of one, two, three, four, five and six made me miss it! You gonna owe me a hunnert million when they hit!" Good piece.
Nicely done. I like the conflict of guesswork, the evidently obvious ending that such things don't happen, yet they do.
we play the lottery, i must confess. all of us, each one with a different dream, i am sure. mine is to retire to the south of france before i sell my first million books. my daughter lucia (9 yrs) doesn't say what she wants (perhaps she just wants to be stinking rich) but she invariably picks your lucky numbers - 1,2,3,4,5,6. no amount of (false) reasoning will deter her.
Thanks folks. I only play when I pass by a place that sells it (rare),only one, have extra dough (also rare)and leave it to the comp to pick it.
Marcus - when Lucia hits, the general public will be stunned that such a combination comes up and that someone would be that crazy, and lucky, to pick them. Even to those of us who know the simple logic, it just has the feel that 1-6 is somehow more unlikely. My dream is a beachhouse in the carib, and one in Vermont - nothing flashy but loaded with toys. Of course they would be just reststops in my world travels to the highest (and lowest) of culture the world has to offer.
Nice, Walter. I don’t play the lottery myself. I figure that with the odds at 1 in 200,000,000 (or whatever astronomically minute number they might be), my zero chance in not playing is close to that. That said, good luck to all of you playing.
Good one.