Re: Some newbie math/lottery questions, please.

On Apr 26, 11:26 am, John Griffin <thathillbi...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
HC <hboo...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hey, all, while trying to find a formula for calculating the
number of possible unique combinations of x numbers in a set
from y number of possibilities I ran across quite a bit of
stuff I have no clue about and I would like to ask some
questions to try to understand, please.

First, I found the formula C(N,x) = N!/((N-x)!*x!) which seems
to accurately calculate the number of unique sets of x numbers
that can be drawn from N possibilites where order is not
important (1-2-5 is the same as 5-2-1) and each number can
only be used once in a sequence x (1-2-5 is valid, 1-2-2 is
not). So I believe I have found the answer to the question
that first landed me in the Lottery/Lotto 'groups.

Second, while reading for that information I have come up with
some information that has given me more questions than
answers.

Item A: Someone, back in about 2001, had asked for help
assigning a unique number to each set of possible combinations
in a lottery (or any finite set) number set. The number was
referred to as the CSN, and the idea was that, for any
particular game (54/6, 49/6, 37/5, etc.) where there was a
finite number of possible combinations and numbers did not
repeat in each set and there could be no duplicate sets in the
whole, there would be one number to refer to that set; the
CSN. A person named Ion Saliu (sp?) indicated that some
formulae presented were incorrect but I never found what was
proposed to be correct for calculating this number (CSN).

Thank you for mentioning Ion. Just saying his name engenders
lots of snickering and plenty of guffaws. Ion believes that the
probabilities in a lottery depend on the drawing date. Other
than that, he's lamer than Christopher Reeve ever was.

First, what does CSN stand for? Second, what would be the
purpose of having a unique number to identify each possible
combination of numbers in this finite list of possibilities?

One purpose would be to select combinations by generating just
one random number for each and then doing some arithmetic to find
the numbers that make up that combination. Another purpose would
be <snicker> trying to project the next one by looking at the
history. This, of course would be an exercise in futility, but no
more senseless than trying to predict the individual numbers,
which is kinda like going polar bear hunting in Timbuktu.

Third, what is the correct formula for calculating the CSN for
any given game where a set of x numbers is drawn from y
possibilites, where the numbers are not repeated in each set
and order is not important (1-2-5 same as 5-1-2 or 5-2-1)?

There is no "formula" for that. Sometime in the last year or so,
someone posted a procedure for calculating the index for each
combination and a procedure for recovering the combination's
parts from the index. Sorry, I can't remember who it was. Maybe
you could get Dumb Nick to take time during his frantic 24/7
google habit to search for it.

I don't know for sure what CSN means, but it looks like
"Combination's Serial Number" to me. If in a 6/49 game you take
CSN(1,2,3,4,5,6)=0 and CSN(44,45,46,47,48,49)=13983815, then CSN
(1,3,4,5,6,7) would be 0+C(47,4) (number of combinations starting
with 1,2), and CSN(2,3,4,5,6,7) would be 0+C(48,5) (the number of
combinations starting with the number 1), and CSN(2,4,5,6,7,8)
would be C(48,5)+C(46,4), etc. The "problem" is that the sum
can't be reduced to a simple form.

Item B: I found some discussion of "wheels" that were,
presumably, used to help pick numbers for playing the
lottery-type games One poster mentioned looking for a wheel
that was referred to, IIRC (it was 2 this AM and I already
posted this question but I was too wiped out I guess because
it seems never to have shown up) as a "46,3,3,6,759". What is
a "wheel" in this reference? Why did I read some people
referring to percentage coverage, particularly in the 95
percent range? Some referred, as I recall, to the idea of
having 100% of 3 number matches or somesuch. What does that
mean?

It means that if you buy 759 tickets and have absolutely no luck,
you get three dollars back. (Maybe $10...I don't know.)



I think I had another question this morning at that tiny hour
but I cannot remember it.

Thank you for your time and help.

--HC- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey, John, thank you for your reply and time. It's always a problem
with seeking information online; who's trustworthy and who's a
crackpot. The idea of identifying a sequence number of the possible
combinations is cute but if I have code (VB 6) that already creates
random numbers and then random sets (checking for and then eliminating
duplicates) it seems unnecessary to have a way like this to calculate
some CSN and then the derived component numbers. Cool, but not really
a priority, it seems.

I'm not a genius, I'm pretty sure (but by comparison from the humans I
see most often in public I'd say I was), but I'm pretty sure that if I
bought 759 tickets for ANYTHING at a buck a pop and got only 3 bucks
back that it would NOT be exciting. Am I missing a detail here? I
spend 759 bucks to get 3 bucks back??? I bet if I gave you 759
dollars you'd GLADLY give me 3 back. Right?

Thanks again for your reply.

--HC

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Some newbie math/lottery questions, please.
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