Saskatoon’s Lottery Winning Streak May Look Weird, But ‘Weird Events Happen’: Odds Expert – Saskatoon | The Canadian News

Saskatoon might be a lucky city, but not for its recent lottery winning streak, according to a math and statistician.

There have been at least four new millionaires in the last month as a result of big victories in the Saskatoon area. It started with a $ 55 million win on Lotto Max in October, the second-largest jackpot in Saskatchewan history.

“I didn’t expect that to be something that would happen to me,” winner Matthew Poppel said in a statement from Sask Lotteries last month.

The winning streak continued last week with a $ 2 million Western 6/49 ticket drawing. On Monday, outside of town, a man won a $ 1.5 million Smoke Signals jackpot at Dakota Dunes Casino. Then, the purchase of a Lotto 6/49 ticket drawn Wednesday in Saskatoon was confirmed.

Michael Kozdron, associate professor of mathematics and statistics at the University of Regina, said the events may seem strange, but they are actually not that uncommon.

“A lot of this is population distribution and rare events happen,” Kozdron said. “The point is, when you look for rare events, you will find them.”

Looking at the distribution of lottery winners, Kozdron mentioned that Ontario cities like Toronto, Mississauga and London see similar streaks at various points.

The real value is the joy of playing and treating the lottery as the game that it is, he said.

“If you think of it as entertainment, how do you want to spend your money on entertainment? That’s one thing, ”Kozdron said.

“As an investment strategy, it’s probably not a smart way to finance your pension.”

Instead, he proposed that people put a toonie in a jar every day and then remove it after 30 days.

“You get that little thrill of winning at the end of the month,” he laughed.

Once, his high school teacher told the author of this story that the lottery is a tax on people who cannot do math. But even the probability expert, known as a probabilist, admitted to buying lottery tickets himself, strictly for fun.

“I certainly like the thrill of seeing the numbers appear on the screen,” Kozdron said.

“Every once in a while, I get that little twinge of excitement when I hit three out of six or three out of seven on 6/49.”