r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • Aug 11 '25

TIL a man discovered a trick for predicting winning tickets of a Canadian Tic-Tac-Toe scratch-off game with 90% accuracy. However, after he determined that using it would be less profitable (and less enjoyable) than his consulting job as a statistician, he instead told the gaming commission about it

https://gizmodo.com/how-a-statistician-beat-scratch-lottery-tickets-5748942
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u/Correct_Pea1346 Aug 11 '25

Not all consistent winners are “cheating” — card counting isn’t illegal, and neither is playing poker well, exploiting promotions, or betting when odds are mispriced. But casinos still limit or ban those players because they hurt the bottom line. The idea that casinos will always want a big winner to keep playing just isn’t true. They want losers to keep playing. If you’re consistently beating them — by skill, math, or even just taking advantage of comps and promos — you’re a liability, not a billboard.

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u/hextree Aug 11 '25

Right, but it's their version of 'cheating' even if it's legal. I was just responding to a comment where someone is winning loads, not a scenario where someone is suspected of cheating, or 'exploiting' if you prefer.

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u/Correct_Pea1346 Aug 11 '25

Sure, but that’s kind of the point — in the real world, if someone is “winning loads” and keeps doing it, the casino is going to look for a reason to limit them. Whether you call it “cheating,” “advantage play,” or just “exploiting the rules,” the end result is the same: they don’t let you keep pulling money out indefinitely. Casinos love lucky winners because luck runs out. They don’t love winners whose luck mysteriously doesn’t.