![]() ![]() The North American lottery system is a $70 billion-a-year business, an industry bigger than movie tickets, music, and porn combined. I can figure out how much gold is underground." If I know the forces, I can decipher the samples. There are fundamental geologic forces that created those numbers. "The numbers might seem random, as if the gold has just been scattered, but they're actually not random at all. "My job is to make sense of those results," he says. Each sample gives a different estimate of the amount of mineral underground. A typical assignment for Srivastava goes like this: A mining company has multiple samples from a potential gold mine. In fact, it reminded him a lot of his day job, which involves consulting for mining and oil companies. ![]() When he talks about a subject he's interested in-and he's interested in many things, from military encryption to freshwater fossils-his words start to run into each other.Īs a trained statistician with degrees from MIT and Stanford University, Srivastava was intrigued by the technical problem posed by the lottery ticket. He has a neatly trimmed beard and a messy office. Srivastava speaks quietly, with a slight stammer. "This is the smallest amount you can win, but I can't tell you how excited it made me," he says. Srivastava matched up each of his numbers with the digits on the boards, and much to his surprise, the ticket had a tic-tac-toe. If three of "Your Numbers" appeared on a board in a straight line, you'd won. The goal was to scrape off the latex and compare the numbers under it to the digits on the boards. On the left was a box headlined "Your Numbers," covered with a scratchable latex coating. Its design was straightforward: On the right were eight tic-tac-toe boards, dense with different numbers. The second ticket was a tic-tac-toe game. "I thought, 'This is exactly why I never play these dumb games.'" "The first was a loser, and I felt pretty smug," Srivastava says. He fished a coin out of a drawer and began scratching off the latex coating. The tickets were cheap scratchers-a gag gift from his squash partner-and Srivastava found himself wondering if any of them were winners. Play Smart™ term is a service mark of the Illinois Lottery licensed to the NCEL.īuy, Scan, and Check tickets with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.Mohan Srivastava, a geological statistician living in Toronto, was working in his office in June 2003, waiting for some files to download onto his computer, when he discovered a couple of old lottery tickets buried under some paper on his desk. ![]() Materials on this Website may not be modified in any way or reproduced or publicly displayed, performed or distributed or otherwise used for any public or commercial purpose without the express written consent of the NCEL. All materials on this Website are owned by or licensed to the NCEL. In the event of a discrepancy between the numbers posted on this website and the official winning numbers, the official winning numbers as certified by the Multi-State Lottery Association and/or the NCEL shall control. Problem Gambling Helpline 87.Įvery effort has been made to ensure that the winning numbers posted on this website are accurate however, no valid claim may be based on information contained herein. See game or promotion pages for more detail. Odds to win a prize and the top prize vary based on the game or promotion. Where to Play Contact Videos Business Opportunities For Retailers Help Rules & Terms Privacy Disclaimer Sports Betting
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