Sneaky Odds for Scratch-Off Lottery Tix

-
Courtesy DC Lottery
Every few weeks or so, one of the big multi-state lotteries makes it into the national news when the grand prize jackpot reaches a certain level. This week the Powerball lottery grand prize is hovering around $500 million; and actually, it's above that now. 

We all know the chances of winning the jackpot is very small. It's unfathomably small: 1 in 292,201,338. If you were alive in the United States in 2004, well, there were 292,000,000 other people living here, so imagine one American being chosen at random. Those are the odds. If you play a pick 3 game like DC3, the odds are a lot better, but still long: 1 in 1000.

However, scratch off tickets are quite different. While random number generator games like pick 3, pick 4 or Powerball offer long odds for the grand prize, the odds are typically the same every time as long as they number set stays the same. Scratch off tickets also have an finite set of top prizes but your chances of winning the top prize can go from infinitesimal to literally zero pretty quickly, but you may not know that when you buy the ticket. 

Take the D.C. United branded scratch off game for instance. It was introduced on March 1, 2017. For a $2, you can scratch to reveal if there are any of 8 possible prizes waiting for you. The top prize is $10,000. There is a steep drop off for the second best prize, which is $200. The lowest prize is $2.

Unfortunately, if you purchased a ticket today you'd have 0% chance to win $10,000, or even $200. There were only 4 tickets with a $10,000 prize. They have all been scratched and claimed. There were only 14 tickets with $200 prizes. They have been scratched and claimed. If you play this game, you still have  a 1 in 4.27 chance of winning some prize, but IF you win, you will likely win $2, which there are 4,720 tickets remaining, or $5, which there are 3,541 remaining. You do have a chance to win a $100 ticket, but here are just 27 of those tickets remaining out of an original batch of 150. All this information is public. I'm not saying this information is hidden. It's also probably common knowledge for long time lotto players. State lottery web sites list this information pretty clearly. Here's Virginia. Maryland. DC.

Part of the draw for these DC United tickets is that there is a second chance game in which you can win memorabilia, game tickets, and merch from DC United even if the original ticket was not a cash winner. And I want to be really clear, that the DC Lottery says up front on the ticket home page that you should check for top prize availability before you play, but I'm not sure how many folks are checking the web page for the scratch off game before buying. Perhaps the super savvy players are. I wouldn't doubt that. But causal players at the corner store or gas station? I'm not so sure. 

Popular posts from this blog

300 Unit Tower Proposed Near Hechinger Mall

-
Image
Rendering of 1625 Benning c/o Valor Development. Valor Development is looking to construct a 303 unit apartment building across from Hechinger Mall on Benning Road NE. PGN Architects are the architects for the project. A. Morton Thomas and Associates are acting landscape architects and civil engineers. Bozzuto will ultimately mange the property. The "Valvaere" would be located at 1625 Benning Rd NE, consolidating nine parcels including what is now Trinidad Baptist Church and attached surface parking lot. The Valvaere will actually be comprised of two buildings; a nine story, 90 foot tall building facing Benning Road, and a 3 story, 38 foot tall building facing 16th St NE. About 7,000 sq ft of ground floor retail is incorporated into the plans. 100+ on-site parking spaces would be provided in a below grade parking lot. There will be over 100 bike storage spaces as well, protected, inside the building. Bird's eye view of Benning Rd. Rendered with Google Earth©
Read more

A Langston for Langston, But Not That One

-
Image
Carver Langston has a new mural! The narrative features an abstract sort of geometric nature theme, switches to a sunglasses-decked woman representing Northeast DC, transitions to a male historical figure, then to a montage of pencils, an image of hands on a typewriter, then finally returning to the geometric nature theme to cap it all off. It's lovely, bold, colorful, and we deserve more murals like this in Carver Langston. But there's just one thing about this one... As you may know, on paper, Carver Langston is really two neighborhoods. Carver is the triangular shaped part of the neighborhood north of Maryland Ave NE, going up to the Arboretum. Langston is the part of the neighborhood south of Maryland, going down to Benning Road. Carver's namesake is a person most of us learned about in elementary school, George Washington Carver . Carver was one of America's top intellectuals and inventors of the early 20th century. Langston takes its name from the
Read more

Delta Towers Will Add New Housing & Retail

-
Image
Rendering courtesy of KGD Architecture . Delta Towers --located at the Starburst intersection of Florida Ave, H Street, Bladensburg Rd, and Benning Road, NE-- is gearing up for a major expansion. Fences are already up around the perimeter of the property, presaging a significant transformation and addition of residential units to the H Street corridor.  There are 179 new units slated for "Fortitude at Delta Towers" as part of a nearly $1 billion bond issue via DCHFA (PDF) All units in Fortitude will be for seniors and all units will be affordable as each will leased at a maximum of 30% AMI. From the DCHFA press release  (PDF): "The redevelopment of Delta Towers is $96 million project. Delta Towers is a 100 percent affordable senior community with all units leased at a maximum of 30 percent AMI. Thirty of the apartments will receive LRSP subsidy and 18 will be designated as permanent supportive housing with housing assistance payments via the DC Housing Autho
Read more