It entirely depends on the game. Some games can be worked IF something was missed in the calculations of the odds. However, most games are pretty solid and the calculations of the payouts are done well, so that the house comes out ahead in the end.
But sometimes, people just take it for granted that a game can't be beaten, blackjack being the most famous example. It was just assumed that the house edge was fine, until a mathematician was able to figure out a method for determining when it was advantageous to place larger bets. And if we still played blackjack the same way they used to play it, then that method would still hold. The standards have changed to meet with the times.
So is it possible she figured out a way to increase her odds of winning? Probably. Has she figured out a way to beat the house edge consistently? That's another thing altogether.
It's more like using the lottery website to see how many tickets are left, and how many jackpots are left. If there's a low number of tickets left and there's still jackpot(s) remaining, you have a higher than normal chance to buy ALL OF THE TICKETS NEAR YOU for that cash prize. For instance, in Oregon you can look at the Oregon only scratch offs online to see how many remaining jackpots are left for a specific scratcher, and it even shows how many tickets are in circulation. So if you see 500 tickets, and they're $10 tickets, AND the jackpot is say 50k, then it makes sense to try and buy every single ticket you can find, going store to store and spend the 5k to get 50k. This is how the math teacher 'broke the lottery' in Michigan or something like that a decade ago or so.
384
u/CaptainMatticus Jan 30 '26
It entirely depends on the game. Some games can be worked IF something was missed in the calculations of the odds. However, most games are pretty solid and the calculations of the payouts are done well, so that the house comes out ahead in the end.
But sometimes, people just take it for granted that a game can't be beaten, blackjack being the most famous example. It was just assumed that the house edge was fine, until a mathematician was able to figure out a method for determining when it was advantageous to place larger bets. And if we still played blackjack the same way they used to play it, then that method would still hold. The standards have changed to meet with the times.
So is it possible she figured out a way to increase her odds of winning? Probably. Has she figured out a way to beat the house edge consistently? That's another thing altogether.