Method for maximizing the expected value of lottery tickets in a distributed environment.

Background

Method for maximizing the expected value of lottery tickets in a distributed environment Background: Major lotteries, characterized by their enormous jackpots that attract millions of participants, frequently encounter the challenge of multiple winners sharing the grand prize. This phenomenon, often termed a “collision,” significantly reduces the actual payout for each winning ticket holder and, consequently, diminishes the expected value of purchasing a lottery ticket. Current standard ticket generation schemes, including those for “Quick Pick” options, do not inherently account for or mitigate the probability of these collisions, leaving purchasers with a lower expected return on their investment due to the high likelihood of prize splitting.

Technology

Researchers at Stony Brook University developed a method that increases the expected value of a lottery ticket and reduces the likelihood of shared prizes by deterministically distributing the total ticket space among different vendors. This is achieved by deterministically pairing stores or forming cyclic groups of stores, with each store receiving specific, ordered partitions of the ticket space to sell. The scheme is designed for integration into existing Quick Pick terminals and requires only an initial agreed setup, without needing real-time communication during ticket sales.

Advantages

• Reduced Prize Sharing
• Enhanced Expected Value
• Seamless Integration

Application

• Lottery Ticket Sales Optimization