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DHass22
DHass22
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August 20th, 2017 at 7:07:25 AM permalink
From what I've read .... odds of holding a winning Powerball ticket is 292 million to 1. Equivalent to flipping a coin heads 28 consecutive times.

Need the "how many million to 1" odds for 30 consecutive heads, then 31, 33, 35, and 40. Thanks in advance! (any formulas would be appreciated)
billryan
billryan
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August 20th, 2017 at 9:18:30 AM permalink
Odds of winning powerball with one ticket may be I in 292 million, but what are the odds of winning without one?
I was in LA this week. Four of us chipped in and bought a ticket. Figured we had just as much shot with one ticket than ten, and much better than if we didn't buy one.
$100 million would do me just as well as $400 million.
I'm going to Primm on Thursday. If nobody has won, I'll buy one more ticket.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
ThatDonGuy
ThatDonGuy
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August 20th, 2017 at 9:21:19 AM permalink
Easy - the odds against n heads in a row is (2n - 1) to 1.

Here it is in easy table form for n = 25 to 40:
Consecutive HeadsOdds against
2533,554,431-1
2667,108,863-1
27134,217,727-1
28268,435,455-1
29536,870,911-1
301,073,741,823-1
312,147,483,647-1
324,294,967,295-1
338,589,934,591-1
3417,179,869,183-1
3534,359,738,367-1
3668,719,476,735-1
37137,438,953,471-1
38274,877,906,943-1
39549,755,813,887-1
401,099,511,627,775-1
DHass22
DHass22
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August 25th, 2017 at 6:08:44 PM permalink
Many thanks 'ThatDonGuy', big help!
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