Similar-ish story from Bulgaria back in 2009.
4, 15, 23, 24, 35, 42 were drawn back to back weeks live on TV. They also had a probe but nothing malicious have been found. RNG being RNG.
4, 15, 23, 24, 35, 42 were drawn back to back weeks live on TV. They also had a probe but nothing malicious have been found. RNG being RNG.
I can say that with something like 99.99999% confidence. Which doesn't mean "See it could happen!". It means "No its never gonna happen"
> The lottery organisers described it as a freak coincidence and pointed out that the numbers were drawn in a different order.
So, not the same broadcast.
If the probability was something like 1/2^512, and it happened, i think its safe to say that something is fixed.
Take the Bulgaria example. How many lotteries are run around the world, such that we'd hear about a rare coincidence like this? Probably about a 1000 a week. So now the one-in-a-million chance is a one-in-a-thousand chance on a weekly basis, or put differently, we should expect to see it happen about every 20 years.
Follow one lottery, and then watch it this weekend. If the same numbers come up this weekend as last - it is probably fixed.
Now follow every lottery, and watch them all over a few years. If the same numbers come up one week as last, it could be fix (maybe higher probability than normal) but it's most likely a fluke.
We need to consider all the "interesting" things that can happen. It can be sequential numbers like in the article, or anything that strikes you when it happens but didn't think about before.
There is still a chance for a mistake. Fraud is unlikely: why would a fraudster do that? It is extremely noticeable and is likely to make the earnings shared.
It's a very simple argument: the draw from the week before is the ticket. The next draw, which is completely independent, either matches the ticket, or it doesn't.