Same Numbers Drawn Twice in a Row in NY Take 5
Monday October 31st 2022The New York Lottery has insisted that all game processes were followed correctly after exactly the same numbers appeared in both Take 5 drawings on the same day on Thursday.
For the Midday draw on October 27th, the Take 5 winning numbers were revealed to be 18, 21, 30, 35 and 36. Then, remarkably, the same numbers were then announced for the Evening draw.
Amid considerable surprise and even doubts as to whether the result had been affected by technical issues, the NY Lottery confirmed that both sets of numbers were accurate.
Confirmation of the same numbers being drawn
In a short statement, NY lottery bosses assured fans that the draws had been conducted correctly and issued a reminder about how the odds of the game work.
“The NY Lottery can confirm that the same number combination occurred for the Take 5 game for the midday and evening drawings on October 27, 2022,” said the New York Lottery.
“The results from the mechanical draw machines and game processes of both drawings were properly vetted and verified by on-site independent auditors.
“The odds of matching all 5 numbers in Take 5 are 1 in 575,757. Statistically, there is no relation between the numbers drawn across drawings so the odds of a given set of numbers occurring in any Take 5 drawing are 1 in 575,757.”
While there were no jackpot winners in the Midday drawing, 52 players matched all five numbers in the Evening draw.
Chances of it happening again
Sam Weren, a lottery analyst, explained, “Once any set of numbers has been drawn, the chances of those exact numbers appearing again in the next draw are 1 in 575,757 – the same as for ANY set of numbers. This is because the first set of numbers has already been drawn, so the chances of that happening are 1 in 1.
"Now, if you want the next two sets of numbers drawn to be the same AND be a pre-determined set of numbers, the odds against that happening are truly astronomical. It would be (1/575,757)2 which is the same as 1 in 331,496,123,049.
"It is interesting to note that there were 52 jackpot winners in the second draw. In normal draws there are most likely zero winners. Sometimes there are 1, 2 or even 3 winners - almost always single digits. So it would be reasonable to assume those winners probably habitually play the last set of winning numbers.
"If you want to maximise your lottery winnings, this is not a good strategy. Those 52 players only received $715.50 each. Whereas a solitary winner would expect a prize somewhere in the $30,000 area."
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