Page 39 - Unlikely Stories 1

Your Lucky Numbers

highway. He headed north, toward the state line. Five minutes later
they were out of the city limits, rolling at the maximum speed limit
through gathering darkness. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled
slowly.
“Okay. I’m going to turn on the radio to get the news. But
before I do that, I owe you an explanation.”
“What? You mean this isn’t necessary? Another one of your
practice drills?”
“No. This is not a test. Please just listen. Let me start by
telling you exactly what my job has been for the past twelve years. I
am part of the group that runs the state lottery—you know, the bi-
weekly Your Lucky Numbers. We do not generally advertise the
nature of our employment—it should be obvious why: it is gambling,
after all, and it has to be kept squeaky clean. If I told you, you might
tell a friend or relative, and from there it could reach the ear of
someone interested in cheating. Better to keep it quiet. Anyway, that
is why I have been working late on the nights of the six-out-of-forty-
nine draw. The randomness must be guaranteed, a transparent
process involving several procedures under constant scrutiny and
cross-checking both before and after the draw. No criminal activity is
in fact associated with our state lottery. Each draw is completely fair;
no set of numbers has a greater chance of coming up than any other.
The public has confidence in the honesty of our selection, and thus
continues to buy tickets. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, Bernie.”
“But you must also realize that the jackpots and other
payouts are carefully calculated by mathematical formulae to assure
that, on average, the state will make a profit on the lottery. The
chance of any one ticket having all six numbers drawn is roughly one
in fourteen million. The frequent result of these odds, given the
expected number of purchased tickets, is rolled-over jackpots,
attracting ever-greater sales with each successive draw without a six-
pick winner; that, in turn, is offset by the increased chance of one of
those picks hitting the jackpot simply because more tickets, with
more different selections of six numbers, are purchased as the roll-

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