Lottery TV programmes last night

**Gus Mango Fish** · 10th July 2005, 11:58 AM

Last night I saw a quiz programme called "The Big Call' on ITV.. At the end of the show the contestant who won had a choice to pick £25,000 cash or £120,000 in Lottery tickets. The numbers for the lottery tickets had been selected by a Mathematics professor using a method to maximise winnings if the numbers fell into a certain range.

She chose the £25,000 cash. They then showed her what the lottery tickets would have won her.. £1,200 or thereabouts!

I didn't see the first week's show, but would be interested to see what the lottery tickets made that time round.. Would anyone actually choose £120,000 in lottery tickets over £25,000 guaranteed cash? I would guess you'll be looking an an average of £3,000ish back from that number of tickets, but I suppose the 'hook' is that you have the chance to walk away with a lot more than the cash alternative if your luck is in that night. As a poker player, I would always choose the cash, as I believe that choice to give you by far the best Expected Value.

On the subject of Lottery related TV programmes, another quiz program I saw last night was "In It to Win It" with Dale Winton on BBC1.

In this quiz each contestant has to answer questions to build the prize pool, then answer a final question to get their share of the pool. The final guestion for one of the contestants, a woman who was clearly in need of the cash, was something like:

Who was the first person to ever hit 6 sixes off one over in cricket?
A. Gary Sobers, B. Viv Richards, C. Don Bradman

Upon hearing this question the contestant burst into tears with helpful Dale comforting her, then even more helpfully saying "Listen to the guestion again. You might hear something that helps you". As soon as the contestant heard the emphasis in his voice she immediately cheered up. It was now plainly obvious that Dale was going to somehow give her the answer, but how was he going to do this without being too obvious? Cue Dale:

Who was the first person to ever hit 6 sixes off one ober in cricket?
A. Gary Sobers, B. Viv Richards, C. Don Bradman

So, naturally she picked option A and was £15,000+ the richer.

I don't begrudge her the money as she was absolutely desperate for it, and may have lost all hope if she hadn't won. However, I think it was unfair on the other contestants who weren't told the answer to their questions...