The general lotto-loving enthusiasts were in awe of how this seemingly impossible number of winners can happen. Randomness that is akin to lotto suddenly led to debates and studies as well as innumerable posts on all manner of social media to rise up. Looking up the topic also spanned global news agencies to also meander into the probability or the chances of trickery into the play.
The Grand Lotto 6/55 drawn last Oct. 1 had a tremendously huge jackpot out for grabs. A total of PHP 236 million or roughly USD 6.2 million. So far, as of October 4, 2022, only 152 of the 433 winners have stepped out to claim their share of the prize. A share is around PHP5 million without taxes taken out just yet.
So, what’s up with the 433 taking a share of a single Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot? Let’s first make clear how the game is played. All one has to do is purchase a lottery ticket at any PCSO-authorized retailer and vendor and choose six numbers from 1 to 55. The six winning numbers are drawn randomly.
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Let’s look at the numbers in the numbers game
Digressing into the nitty-gritty details, here are the odds of one ticket winning the jackpot prize:
- a six in 55 chance of getting the first number drawn, multiplied by
- a five in 54 chance of getting the second, multiplied by
- a four in 53 chance of getting the third, multipl4ied by
- a three-in-52 chance of getting the fourth. multiplied by
- a two in 51 chance of getting the fifth, multiplied by
- a one-in-50 chance of getting the last.
In a mind-boggling nutshell, a ticket has a 1 in 28,989,675 chance of matching all six randomly drawn numbers from 1 to 55.
The x-factor in the statistics and probabilities is no one can pinpoint the exact number of tickets actually sold. Given there were 10 million tickets sold — that’s still “one chance out of one followed byy 1,224 zeroes”.
What does human nature got to do with it?
Now let’s widen the picture to include other factors that are at play. The first one is the winning number combination: 9-18-27-36-45-54. Take a real close look now. These numbers are all divisible by 9 and are favorite numbers, too. This is also a pattern that folks consider as random as it can get. Totally pure luck will be in play if this combination pops up. The chances of consecutive numbers can also happen. This is so purely for the reason that there is on viable pattern at all in drawing numbers for lotto.
See also: How to play Grand Lotto 6/55
The results also show that the majority of lotto bettors most likely don’t use the lucky pick or a number generator at all. Human nature at play in choosing favorite numbers is the rip tide that caught everyone by surprise. Can it be that purely random numbers can be difficult to choose.
The long story of how the jackpot reached a stupendous amount
We do have to remember and consider how the jackpot reached its size. There were no winners drawn for several weeks. Bettors most likely tried to veer away from favorite numbers, or chose to go the opposite way of “selecting” a pattern. The lotto republic was just about so excited to try luck — and fate — if they will snag the winning combination.
Taking things from a bird’s eye view as well, lotteries played around the world also have similar results happen. It’s just that this particular instance it took the media by storm. Admittedly, the resulting winning combination along with the total number of jackpot winners is amazing.
