strictlyAP
strictlyAP
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August 16th, 2014 at 9:09:37 PM permalink
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2014/08/15/so-many-pick-4-players-are-winning-that-its.html
The bet will not be paid- not now not ever
tringlomane
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August 16th, 2014 at 9:28:17 PM permalink
This had to be BS, or they seriously screwed up the payout.

“Our Pick 4 is killing us,” Martino said at a Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission on Thursday. “The percentage of payout is astronomical. ... We’ll pay out sometimes several hundred percent of what we take in.”
onenickelmiracle
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August 16th, 2014 at 9:53:55 PM permalink
Lotto is such a rip off they have no reason to complain. Everyone gets rich but the players thanks to the lottery. New slogan should be "Lotto: You might be dumb enough to win if you ever thought maybe this dollar could buy everything you want in life."
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strictlyAP
strictlyAP
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August 16th, 2014 at 9:57:59 PM permalink
unless its inside job no way this is probable
The bet will not be paid- not now not ever
tringlomane
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August 16th, 2014 at 10:16:31 PM permalink
Quote: strictlyAP

unless its inside job no way this is probable



Agreed. This makes no sense whatsoever.
onenickelmiracle
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August 16th, 2014 at 10:24:00 PM permalink
Weren't they talking only about one month? I noticed some numbers like 2222 paid out over a million in Ohio, other days numbers pay under 100k, so just assumed a few popular numbers hit soon together. West Virginia will limit numbers sold if too many are bought, so it's really about taking the money or not.
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JB
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onenickelmiracle
August 16th, 2014 at 11:19:11 PM permalink
The Pick 4 game is high-variance (95.77 to 2499.75 depending on the type of bet), and with such a small sample size (approximately 60 drawings), anything could happen. I'm sure if they published their results from day one to today (as opposed to just cherry-picking the results of a particular month), they have likely made very close to the 50% (straight bets) or 52% (box bets) profit as expected.
FleaStiff
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August 16th, 2014 at 11:22:59 PM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

This had to be BS, or they seriously screwed up the payout.

“Our Pick 4 is killing us,” Martino said at a Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission on Thursday. “The percentage of payout is astronomical. ... We’ll pay out sometimes several hundred percent of what we take in.”



So everyone rushes out to buy Pick 4 and win before it disappears ... and low and behold... a few months later they get another compliant reporter to write a scare story.

Everyone knew when 000 came up in the numbers, Dutch Schultz would be killed. Other than that, ANY number made him money.

Its the same way with the lottery. Find a few months of results that make good headlines and then send a bottle of Scotch to a reporter.
AZDuffman
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August 17th, 2014 at 4:53:43 AM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

This had to be BS, or they seriously screwed up the payout.

“Our Pick 4 is killing us,” Martino said at a Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission on Thursday. “The percentage of payout is astronomical. ... We’ll pay out sometimes several hundred percent of what we take in.”



Sounds like they need some better risk management. In PA the lottery will close numbers that have too high a play for the day. Not sure if they did this before the famous fixing back in about 1980 or not but they do it. Every now and then a popular number will be locked out for weeks as people hear it was locked and figure it is "due."

Only government could lose money running a numbers game.
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JohnnyQ
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August 17th, 2014 at 5:00:31 AM permalink
Quote: JB

I'm sure if they published their results from day one to today (as opposed to just cherry-picking the results of a particular month), they have likely made very close to the 50% (straight bets) or 52% (box bets) profit as expected.



Those are outrageous figures for the "house edge". And the reporter didn't think it was worth reporting those ? Her editor and whatever journalism school she attended should be ashamed of themselves.

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Wizard
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August 17th, 2014 at 7:09:24 AM permalink
Terrible reporting. How about some numbers as evidence?
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Ahigh
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August 17th, 2014 at 7:19:29 AM permalink
Quote: Wizard

Terrible reporting. How about some numbers as evidence?



They used numbers. The story is about the Pick 4
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24Bingo
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August 17th, 2014 at 9:58:07 AM permalink
Pick 4?

Isn't the pick 4 usually parimutuel for just this reason?
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FleaStiff
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August 17th, 2014 at 11:14:04 AM permalink
Quote: JohnnyQ

Those are outrageous figures for the "house edge". And the reporter didn't think it was worth reporting those ? Her editor and whatever journalism school she attended should be ashamed of themselves.

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Dieter
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August 17th, 2014 at 11:24:17 AM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

This had to be BS, or they seriously screwed up the payout.

Quote: article

“Our Pick 4 is killing us,” Martino said at a Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission on Thursday. “The percentage of payout is astronomical. ... We’ll pay out sometimes several hundred percent of what we take in.”



It's conceivable that a higher than proportional number of players are betting winning numbers.

No pity for any operator of a game with a 50% edge who loses.

Sure, some days they'll payout 3 or 4 times what they take in... and many other days they'll take in much more than they pay out.
May the cards fall in your favor.
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